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elizaellwrites · 1 year ago

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Legacy of the Fallen- Chapter 8

One more for the night...

Prologue

Chapter 1

Last Chapter

Table of Contents

The Traitor

Dear Mother,

The last few days at school have been so strange. Jacob is back after hearing his mum has gone missing, but he hasn’t been himself. He’s distant and almost cold, he usually doesn’t pay much attention to what the teacher is talking about, but he’s not even engaging with what’s going on in class anymore. I’m wondering if he’s going to decide to go home soon because being here isn’t doing him any good. It’s probably hurting him more, with most of our classmates either acting like he personally offended them, or they’re coddling him like a child. It’s ridiculous.

I don’t like that it was announced to our classes that this happened to him, it really should have been kept quiet between Jacob and whoever he chose to share it with. I feel like I shouldn’t know about this, much less the entire student population. He at least seems upset about it, but it’s hard to tell since he hasn’t really talked to any of us. It also seems like he and Asher had a fallout before everything happened since Asher is avoiding Jacob too. Friends are confusing sometimes, but I just feel so bad about everything going on.

I can’t shake the fact that Father knew Jacob’s parents, meaning you probably did too. It’s just such a huge coincidence, especially with how he is here for an exchange programme or something like that, while we just moved here and I have no idea when Father will decide to leave since Joseph is here. I’m not confident about the idea that Father won’t walk into my room and tell me that we’re going to be moving again to who knows where. I’ve gotten my hopes up before, and I know Father well enough to know that he likes to keep moving. My best guess is that we’ll be staying in Rochester for a little longer than usual, maybe closer to four months? Six months?

We will see how everything ends, and I will be okay with whatever it is. We’ve come this far, and as much as I like the people I’ve met here, it’s no different than before.

Annamarie Rose Olson

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Jol stood on the rock he had met the informant two days prior, his blood boiling in the anticipation of meeting the man again. Despite his superiors encouraging him to take the Hecathian’s offer, he couldn’t feel right about this situation. Why would he have reason to give information that would assist them in the destruction of his species?

The man made his skin crawl, even beyond the fact that he was Hecathian. Rinoas was no one to mess with, having a record of killing or driving those he didn’t see as useful to insanity. Anyone who actively sought him out, much less those making deals with the enemy to see him, he didn’t want to interact with.

He agreed with the queen about how valuable the offered information was, though he still could not understand her level of interest in the Allenesaia girl, nor why the man had known she had been searching for her.

Either way, he had risen while the sky was still dark, his path only lit by the magmatic cracks in the ground. His claws had begun to hurt from being extended in preparation for any sort of attack, whether from wild iruqo, or any other creature that would be out looking for food before the suns rose above the horizon.

He was completely unaware of the man’s presence until the slight sound of his boots hitting rock came from behind him. The unmistakable sound of one of the man’s bronze daggers being unsheathed sent Jol whirling around to face the threat, his wings spreading wide.

“Relax,” the man’s face was still covered, but Jol could hear the smirk in his voice as the dagger was flipped in one hand. “You didn’t think I’d come all the way here just to kill you, did you?"

Jol stifled the growl rising in his chest, his claws digging into the rock as he forced his wings to lower.

“Since you’re here, I’m assuming your queen has accepted my proposition,” flipped the dagger once again. “It would be foolish for you to come here otherwise.”

His jaw locked in anger, his red eyes flashing in barely controlled rage. “Rinoas is waiting for you as soon as you give us the information you promised.”

“I know the deal,” the man slid the dagger back into its arm sheath. His dark eyes glinted, and the black mixed with evergreen made him uneasy, much like the queen’s advisor’s mixed irises. “Which information are you wanting first?”

“The Academy,” Jol said without hesitation, his eyes narrowing.

“Are we doing this here, or do we have others to meet?” raised an eyebrow, a hand placed on his hip as he watched Jol for an answer.

“If you think I’m bringing you into our headquarters, then you underestimate how gullible we are.” Jol spat, his wings bristling behind him. “You have given no reason for any of us to trust you.”

“Right,” the man let out a bark of laughter. “And you’re not as dumb as I’ve led myself to believe, I remember.”

Jol couldn’t hold back the growl this time, the sound ripping through the air, silencing the Hecathian’s cackling. “Speak.”

He stood there for a moment, crossing his arms as he contemplated Jol, his hands suspiciously close to the hilts of the weapons he had already threatened him with twice before. “The Academy is on the brink of chaos, the only reason it hasn’t collapsed is because of the man who runs it and exploits it with a blade held to everyone’s throat. All it would take for it to fall is a blow that would finally turn the people’s loyalty away from him.”

Jol’s ears pricked at this information, his interest rising dramatically in what the small amount conveyed.

“He’s surrounded by loyalists, and I’m sure even you could figure out what happens to those who are vocal about their disagreements.” The man scoffed, one hand rising to brush his shoulder absently.

“And how is it that you know this?” Jol questioned. It was too sensitive to be common knowledge, it was highly likely that most living in the academy would buy into whatever the man said. It was common across many of the species he had come across, Hecathians wouldn’t be any different, even if they pretended they were.

The man’s eyes narrowed dangerously, his arms tightening against each other. “Why does it matter? You’re getting the information you want.”

Jol twitched at that, his curiosity about whom this man was rising despite his disdain for him.

“As for the location,” the man continued as if the question hadn’t been asked. “It is near a town called Rochester in the region of Minnesota, located in the United States on Earth. You want more specifics, you will have to find the boundary yourself, but you’ll have the entire remainder of an army on you in an instant.”

“It narrows down where we were looking,” Jol watched the man carefully. “But how do I know you’re being truthful in any of this?”

The man stared at him for a second, one eyebrow cocked. “I came here voluntarily, for my own reasons, to the homeworld of one of the species that was responsible for the destruction of my homeworld and the deaths of most of my people. What reason would I have to lie when anything here could just decide to kill me.” He raised both eyebrows, moving his hands back down to rest on his hips.

“Fair enough,” Jol huffed. It really would be the equivalent of him going to talk to a Hecathian right outside of the Academy borders for a parallel universe where he would give them information about his organization. It would be a death wish to lie, especially with a beast that could decide to just kill him for entertainment.

“As for Allenesaia,” continued. “She’s in Rochester, they’re planning on sending in a retrieval team very soon to bring her and the others back to the Academy.” He had a strange look in his eye at that idea, though Jol couldn’t fathom why. “If you’re planning on taking her, you may want to do it sooner rather than later. One guardian, who isn’t even that old or experienced, is easier to take on than whatever will happen after they take her.”

The way he said that made Jol wonder, once again, who this girl was to pique such attention. What could one Hecathian really be worth?

“Now,” the man straightened his posture, standing even taller than before. “I’ve given you what I promised, now I want to see Rinoas.”

“Very well.”

____________________________

Jacob sat still as the dim light of the sunrise had just begun to appear outside his window beside him, indifferent to the fact that he had sat there, ruminating in his thoughts, instead of sleeping. He was surrounded by a familiar, yet uncomfortable room. The light green walls usually tuned out now gave him an almost nauseating reaction. He sat in the center of the large bed, facing the dresser that was pressed up against the opposite wall, his reflection meeting his gaze. It was the first time he had been able to look himself in the eyes since he had left home.

His eyes were sunken with exhaustion, his skin pale and sickly. He had barely slept since hearing the news, the grief and mental images haunting him until he passed out, forcing him to sleep.

He was filled with more fury than sadness, more than he had felt in a long time. He knew that his mom was gone, he didn’t need the confirmation that so many kept telling him they didn’t have. Like his mom would have left anyone without a word when she wouldn’t even go to work without saying goodbye to everyone in the house, whether they were family or not.

No. He knew exactly what happened, and for the first time since he had come to Rochester, he wanted to go home. As much as he dreaded facing everything that came with going back, he needed to get answers. He knew his days were limited here anyway, especially with his call last week.

He closed his stinging eyes, leaning his chin against his propped-up knee. His whole body ached, screaming in protest at his decision to move. He could feel his body’s need to sleep, but he knew he needed to be at school. In this instance, he wished he could be like his father, being able to sleep amid any dire situation, no matter the context. That was as far as wanting to be like his father went.

He cautiously stretched his limbs, sucking in a breath at the clenching pain in his calves. Through his door, he could faintly hear the TV playing in the dining room, knowing it was Joseph fulfilling his daily habit of watching the news. Charlotte wouldn’t be up for another hour before they would both head to work while he was already halfway through his first class of the day.

He wished he could just curl into a ball and never move again, while at the same time wanting to take a knife and throw it at the wall. His sleep deprivation and days of internalizing his anger were draining him. There was only one other time he had felt like this before, and that was a time he wanted to forget more than anything else in his life. The rage, the guilt, and the grief overwhelmed his senses. He wanted to get as far away from it as he could, but this time, there was no scenario where that was possible.

Going back to school had been like being on autopilot, the classes, and hallways a blur as his thoughts simultaneously shut down and took over at once. His classmates had somehow heard about what had happened, most likely for sensitivity reasons, but it was annoying. He didn’t like talking to most of them, the majority made judgments about him for ignoring them, and didn’t pay any attention to him until they now had a reason to pity him. The way they treated him like he was made of glass, or those whom he knew were judging him for his masculinity just stared at him while he couldn’t care less about how he came across, he just wanted them to go back to ignoring his existence. It made everything so much easier.

His friends had been okay, there was a difference in how they talked to him, but he knew they actually cared instead of that fake sympathy. Rachel had no idea how to talk to him, so she just acted normally, which he appreciated. Ben was providing the silent support that he had always done, just more engaged than before. Anna was awkward, but he knew it was because of her naivete and presence in the office.

Asher was a different story, his interactions distant and uncharacteristic. He was among those giving those judgmental glances, his voice harsher when speaking to him. He had clocked Asher as someone who didn’t give such harsh judgments, someone who had pulled him aside to ask him if he was okay on multiple occasions just because he was being quieter. It made him wonder what was going on in his life, but he wasn’t going to ask.

He couldn’t remember if there was something due today, but he didn’t care either. He had only enjoyed school since it had provided him the means of finding a distraction and allowed him to talk to people that made him feel normal for once. Now, it did neither of those things, making it obsolete in his daily activities.

Jacob sighed, swinging his legs off the side of the bed, and rubbing his right eye absently. The sky was lightening to a hazy gold outside, the sounds of traffic picking up on the nearby highway. His being a night owl, slow to wake up in the morning, wasn’t helping in this situation. His sister could easily wake up at four or five in the morning and immediately start the day; it wasn’t fair.

He pushed himself to his feet, feeling his weight pressing down on his still half-asleep legs. He trudged his way over to the dresser, pulling open one of the drawers to reveal the black tee shirt he wanted to wear. He traded it for the plain white shirt he usually wore to bed, pulling his favorite black jacket overtop. He knew it was too hot now for long sleeves, but he really didn’t care much, it was cooler in the school anyway.

He shoved off the light gray sweatpants in exchange for his roughed-up blue jeans; there were no holes yet, but he was pushing his luck. His eyes fell on the golden rod on the top of the dresser, a gift he didn’t deserve. He lifted it in his hand anyway, the solid metal heavy in his hand. He tightened his grip on it, fighting the temptation to leave it behind.

He closed his eyes for a moment before shoving it in his pocket, not pausing to debate further, he grabbed socks that he wasn’t sure matched or not and rolled them onto his feet.

He left his room, heading straight for the door. He had no desire to eat anything. The last time he had tried, he barely ate any before he had begun to feel nauseous. He shoved his feet into his combat boots, kneeling to tie them tight until his feet felt like they were being suffocated by a boa.

He reached for his bag, not making a sound as he went toward the door. He wasn’t trying to avoid Jisuph, but he didn’t want to talk to him either. He had had enough of the older man checking in on if he was okay, the answer hadn’t changed: he wasn’t.

He closed the front door behind him, knowing that Jisuph heard it, but would just leave him to make his way to school in peace now that he was out of the house. If Jelare was awake, she would have dragged him back in to stuff something in his face for breakfast.

He took a deep breath, turning to follow the street toward the school. He was forever grateful that during his time in Rochester, he had remained close enough to everything that he could easily walk about anywhere.

As he passed each house, he wondered how many days he had left of making this path. He had started this journey six months prior and had felt free and normal for the first time in his life. Now the clock was ticking louder each day, reminding him that he was going home. He would see his friends, his sisters, and his father, but not his mom. The only person who had consistently shown him love and listened to what he had to say was gone. His mom had arranged the opportunity for him to leave home and experience something different at a time he couldn’t bear to be in the same place he always had been.

He wasn’t sure if home would be home with only her memory present.

____________________________

Anna’s gaze flicked up from her lunch, today being a bag of crisps with ground beef dumped haphazardly inside, to look at Jacob across the table. He had just sat there, staring at his food without touching it since he had sat down over ten minutes ago. It was beginning to become unnerving, him barely moving as his golden eyes were locked on the abomination of a meal that had been served to them that day.

She could see how tense his muscles were, even with the table cutting off most of his body. His eyebrows were furrowed in deep thought, his mouth curved in a fed-up frown. One could mistake it as him being offended by the food, but she knew better.

The entire table was strangely silent, the banter between any of them absent while they picked at their food. Even Rachel was quiet, her dark eyes darting from person to person as she bit into the sandwich she had managed to pick up by making it to the lunchroom early enough. Asher was sitting further away from them than he had before, shooting borderline harsh glances toward Jacob.

Anna drummed her fingers on her thigh, her foot itching to begin tapping on the tile under her shoes. She took her plastic fork, scooping some of the crisps and beef into her mouth, only to be assaulted by the amount of salt that was in that small amount of food. She chewed and swallowed it quickly, taking a large gulp from her water bottle to wash the flavour away; it only worked halfway.

A heavy breath directed her gaze back to Jacob, he had moved to grip the edge of the table, his arms tense. This wasn’t what caught her attention, however. His normally rich golden eyes which resembled a light brown on occasion, now sparked with a familiar-looking light.

Her eyes went wide, her breath leaving her as she stared at the boy. It was identical to the light she had seen in her own eyes that night in her uncle’s loo.

His intense gaze shot up to meet hers, causing her to blink in reaction to the direct light. In an instant, Jacob pushed himself up from the bench, swinging his legs over and immediately making his way out the doors on the far side of the cafeteria.

Anna just sat there for a moment before her muscles jumped into action. She followed his actions, ignoring the confused exclamation from Rachel behind her. She caught the door as it was closing, carelessly shoving it to hit the hinge. Her pulse rang in her ears, her thoughts fixated on the answer that was just out of sight.

Ahead of her, she could see him slow by the lone tree, just to the side of the small blacktop. He stood tense, looking over to the road across the field where she could see the normal movement of traffic and people getting out of cars. She continued toward him, her nerves spiking as she approached his now-frozen form.

Even as she moved into position beside him, her eyes burning into him, he just stood there, his eyes distant, looking straight ahead with an emotion that rivaled dread.

Anna could vaguely hear the tell-tale sounds of three sets of footsteps approaching, no doubt Rachel, Ben, and Asher. She followed Jacob’s gaze, finding a plain tan minivan at the end, with four people unloading the trunk. She looked back at him, confused at what he found so horrifying about such a sight. Behind her, she could hear Asher make some sort of coughing sound.

Jacob’s eyes were almost forcibly dragged away from the road, turning to meet her stare with his now dimly lit eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. She could hear that now familiar voice in her mind, though this time there were no distinguishable words, rather just a mess of a thousand statements all placed on top of one another. He took a step forward, toward the field of open grass, his eyes moving back to focus on the group now beginning to move toward the school.

In a blur of motion, Jacob was suddenly knocked forward, the boy seamlessly rolling free of the disruption before spinning back to face his assaulter. Anna stumbled back as she watched Asher loom over where Jacob had stood, his expression of seething rage out of place on the normally jovial boy.

Her legs had a mind of their own as she slowly began to back away, her eyes watching Jacob’s bright, narrowed eyes as he crouched in a clear defensive position. She was just barely aware of the other students around them directing their attention to what was going on.

“You really are pathetic,” Asher’s voice came out more of a growl than speaking. “A poor little boy, sniveling while pretending to care about anyone besides yourself.” He lunged forward, kicking out toward Jacob’s centre in a clearly practiced manner.

Jacob dodged, rolling to the side in an equally smooth action. His face was blank in focus, his body moving seamlessly out of a crouch to lunge at his attacker, grabbing Asher’s upper body and flipping him over to slam the other boy into the ground with an arm pressed over his chest. “You don’t want to do this,” he warned through his gritted teeth.

“I think I do,” he spat out with a level of animosity Anna couldn’t understand. She could have blinked and missed how Asher kicked Jacob’s legs from under him, turning the tables and grabbing him by the throat with a snarl.

By now, the fight was turning the heads of nearby students, and a teacher on the far side of the blacktop beginning to head over to the action. Though they were out of view from the cafeteria windows, some people had begun to leave the building to see what was happening outside. Jacob and Asher, too focused on each other, didn’t acknowledge the building’s attention.

Jacob lifted his head against the pressure, bashing his skull against Asher’s face; the latter reeling back with a hand against his now bleeding nose. He rubbed a hand against his neck, coughing once with a glare that could have drawn blood on its own. He pushed himself up to his feet, standing tall over Asher on the ground.

Jacob’s gold eyes were alight with darkness and danger that made her want to turn and run. He looked almost feral while he pushed his hair away from his face, his breath heavier than usual. “Yield,” he growled.

“Why would I do that?” Asher grinned, rising to a more upright position before springing back up to his feet. “You are a coward,” he hissed, eyes flashing.

Jacob narrowed his eyes further, one hand itching to his side as they stared each other down. “And you are not who you present yourself to be,” he muttered out, much to Anna’s confusion.

Asher grinned, though it wasn’t the toothy smile she had seen him do before. It sent a chill down her spine, his eyes full of hatred and his grin speaking threats that she couldn’t fully understand. It was then that his form lit a pale green haze, growing bigger and transforming to grow elongated and lizard-like with long legs that’s claws dug deep into the earth. His skin darkened, shifting from smooth pale beige to haunting yellow-green scales. Then his head began to rearrange itself, his neck stretching while its skull appeared to split into thirds, the sides of his head peeling off to copy the reptilian head in the centre.

Anna felt her stomach stir in a mixture of horror and disgust at the scene in front of her. On the other side of the creature, she could see Rachel and Ben frozen in twin stances of disbelief. Meanwhile, Jacob was unfazed, his hand buried in his pocket as he stared down the beast.

“You know,” Jacob’s eyes sparked with what could only be described as delighted rage. “I’ve really been waiting for this.” He removed his hand from his pocket, a small golden rod gripped in his hand. If she blinked, she would have missed how the small bit of gold in his hand expanded. The tip sharpened, shooting out to create a blade as long as her arm. The hilt blackened around the large red gem at the centre, curving back around his hand to arc in a way reminiscent of a crescent moon, similar black markings trailing up the blade to the very tip.

Around them, the students that had gathered to watch the fight now ran away, some screaming, while others ran in panicked silence. Even the teacher, who had been approaching with a hard look on his face, was rooted in fear. Anna could feel her own terror building, but she couldn’t bring herself to run. Rachel and Ben stood together on the other side of the action, Rachel gripping Ben’s arm with wide eyes as they too, stood frozen.

The monster recoiled, a loud hiss erupting through the schoolyard. Its six slanted green eyes regarded its opponent, the head on the right opening its mouth to reveal the many rows of ridged, jagged teeth. It lunged at Jacob with its left head, teeth snapping while he whirled to the side, cutting a stripe in the side of its elongated neck with his blade.

A high-pitched scream rang out of all of its heads, the middle immediately dipping under the left to strike at Jacob. Unprepared, Jacob attempted to block the attack but was still knocked back, landing beside Anna. His gaze went to hers after a split second, widening once recognition set in. “Get out of here!” He snapped, his tone harsh, but holding panic as well.

She barely managed a nod, swallowing and edging to her left while Jacob pushed himself up once again, spinning his blade in his hand in preparation for the next attack. Her brain was screaming at her legs to move, yet they didn’t, watching in stunned horror as the beast swung at Jacob with its front claws this time, his blade catching them before they struck. An ugly scraping noise grated her teeth when he pulled it free, the beast whipping its tail in frustration.

It turned as Jacob dove to the side, managing to slice through its defences again. The creature roared in pain, ringing out across the schoolyard, and echoing off the side of the building. Anna’s breath hitched in panic as the large tail lashed out, its approach towards her fast and unavoidable.

It slammed into her shoulder, the force knocking her to the ground with a yelp of pained surprise. Her head bounced off the ground on impact, her breath escaping her as she tried to reorient herself.

Another roar ripped through the air, Anna blinking up blurrily to see what was happening. There, lodged in its right head, a large silver arrow glinted in the midday sun.

She stared in uncomprehending confusion for a moment, before another whiz of an arrow buzzed through the air, this one hitting right beside the other, prompting another scream from the creature. She followed the invisible line the arrow had made, landing on four approaching figures that she vaguely recognised as having been across the field before the fighting had started.

In the back of the group was a blond boy, lowering a large silver bow that was almost the same height as him. He was in all black, so dark it appeared to swallow the light from around him, even his hands being covered in gloves that only exposed his fingers.

Ahead of him, his companions continued to approach, wearing the same black clothing that appeared to swallow the light around them. Her eyes were drawn to the tall albino girl in the front of the group, obviously close to six feet tall, with a sword in her hands that spanned most of that height. The girl’s colourless eyes glinted with the same chilling rage as Jacob’s, though accompanied by a chilling smirk upon her lips, sharp black markings stood out on her face, while something glinted in the sun atop her snow-white hair. Without hesitation, she threw herself at the beast, slamming the tip of her blade straight down into the top of its clawed foot.

The other two had skidded to a stop, exchanging words just outside of the perceived danger zone. Both had dark skin, but the similarities stopped there. The girl was facing away from her, but her short and small frame screamed child; making the sharpened spear strapped across her back seem even more out of place. Her rich brown hair was pulled back in a wavy ponytail, yet still fell to her lower back, the shade only slightly darker than her tawny skin. She was dwarfed by her companion, having to tilt her head back to look him in the face.

He was the oldest in the group, most likely already graduated from high school. He was over six feet tall, with angular features that didn’t belong to any single heritage. His angular, dark eyes darted about, almost calm even as Jacob and the albino girl were waging war against the large creature, cutting streaks down the side of the monster that continued to snap at them with its two good heads.

Meanwhile, the blond boy had slung his bow over his shoulder and had begun moving toward the lone tree, where Rachel and Ben had moved. While she watched him go, she was vaguely aware of the tall boy taking off in the direction of the cafeteria doors. The blond grabbed each of them by the arm, his mouth moving in words she was too far away to hear. Neither Rachel nor Ben could be described as particularly strong, but the same could not be said for Rachel’s attitude as his touch sent her elbow into his gut and her knee to be shoved into the one place no one wanted a knee to go.

The boy’s pained yelp was a mouse squeak under another roar from the beast, the albino girl perched on its back with her sword buried halfway into its rough skin. Jacob had slid under its body, slicing at its legs and vulnerable underside. He regained his balance on the other side of the creature, only to have its clawed foot slam into him from behind, sending him flying, his sword falling to the ground. The albino girl called something out, pushing down harder on the blade in retaliation.

Anna’s eyes bounced between the multiple events happening around her, her mind trying to comprehend as the world she had known turned inside out before her. She didn’t acknowledge the short girl, who had moved to her side, just as the blond, who was getting back to his feet, had gone to Rachel and Ben.

“Come on,” Her features still held the innocence of a child, her vivid green gaze holding the same innocence. She was most likely a couple of years younger than her, maybe even more. It was almost calming in the pandemonium around them. “We need to go.”

Anna’s focus was drawn back to the monster as a click and an inhuman scream rang out. The albino girl had a satisfied look on her face as she pulled the sword out of the beast’s back, standing as she did so. Anna’s mouth opened in horror and disgust as the flesh around where the blade had gone in began to fold back and rip as curved spikes that Anna definitely didn’t remember being there were revealed with a coat of blood and bits of flesh hanging from them.

It was, without a doubt, the most terrible thing she had witnessed in her life up to this point. The creature swayed, the girl somehow keeping her balance. Anna’s ears echoed with the anguished noises that it made as it struggled to stay on its feet, her body beginning to shake as her legs threatened to give out from under her.

A yellow glow flashed out across the schoolyard then, all signs that a monster had been before them disappearing in an instant as the albino girl plummeted to the ground with her now clean sword still in hand.

Everyone was still then, the only sound being the police sirens that rang out over the city. Jacob hadn’t moved from where he had landed down the hill, but she somehow knew that he was still alive. The tall boy had returned at some point, his breaths coming fast as he scanned the aftermath of what had occurred, looking just as confused as the rest of them.

“We need to go now,” the tall boy managed. “Elaine, grab Jacob. Take them to the van,” he gestured around. “I wasn’t able to get the other, security is too tight. We’ll have to come back for him.”

The three strangers gave their acknowledgments, beginning to do as they were told. Anna shivered as she felt eyes on her again, almost like something was prodding at the edges of her consciousness. She looked around, trying to identify what was causing the feeling. The short girl grabbed her arm, trying to pull her in the direction of the others. Her line of sight lifted to the roof of the school three stories up, a dark figure visible against a grouping of clouds that was passing over. She hissed, ducking her face as a spike of pain drove into her head, but once she looked up again after the pain passed, the shadow was gone.

Behind her, she could hear people speaking, but the words blended while her eyes darted to look for what she had seen. Her eyebrows furrowed, her muscles tense. She reached out with her mind, the way she had in the loo. She winced again, though this time it was from the sheer amount of noise that entered her mind.

Both her hands pressed against her temples, she knew her eyes were glowing gold, though concealed as she closed her eyes. She tried to focus on each individual voice at a time, but it was too much. They shifted constantly, words blending, pictures of faces that were vaguely familiar flashing behind her eyelids, darkened classrooms with students hidden under their desks, a toilet stall with its single occupant breathing short and fast as he stood atop the toilet seat to hide his feet from an unseen threat. She could physically feel so many sensations. Hands on her shoulders, the fabric of a skirt she wasn’t wearing fluttering against her thighs, the cramping leg muscles from crouching in a confined position, and the ache of a freshly bruised leg. Emotions cycled through her, anger, fear, worry, confusion, acceptance, bloodlust, frustration, determination, shock…

It was consuming her, surrounding her as she cowered in a crouch on the grass. She couldn’t tell if she was screaming or if it was someone else doing so, the sound piercing through the others, the tell-tale burn in her throat. It was impossible to distinguish what was real, even when her heart leapt in her chest at the sensation of being lifted off the ground.

She opened her eyes, revealing the ground five or six metres down. It took her a moment to comprehend the large claws wrapped around her torso, turning her gaze up to the large four-legged beast lifting her into the air. Rather than the feathers one would expect, this creature’s legs and curled paws were coated in fine, silky brown fur. Its body hunched over her, the head a bizarre mix between a bat and one of a small wildcat. The wings stretched out of its back, each wing three times the width of the creature itself, tan skin stretched out, its greenish veins visible in its naked state.

She screamed once her brain had caught up with what was happening, thrashing in the creature’s grip as they continued to rise. An arrow whizzed by, sending her panic even higher. She could feel something building inside her, though it barely registered as they crossed the school field.

She kicked and punched at its legs, stopping only when she saw the haze of a glow that was beginning to become familiar. She closed her eyes, reaching inward to that power she knew she had in her. At this moment, it didn’t matter that she didn’t know what it was, or why she had it. It didn’t matter that she had no idea how they worked or how to even use or control them.

She felt heat across her body, a deafening bang as her body dropped. Even with her eyes closed tight she could see the bright light that was visible even in daylight. She felt herself falling, her body going limp as it plummeted toward the grass below. She didn’t open her eyes, nor did she make a sound until she hit the ground.

Next Chapter

Taglist: @hxad-ovxr-hxart, @the-printed-words, @frostedlemonwriter, @on-noon, @my-cursed-prince, @thesorcererspen, and @avocado-frog. If you'd like to be added or removed from the taglist, please let me know!

#oh no! a cliffhanger!#how dare i leave you like this #sorry not sorry reader #legacy of the fallen #legacy of the fallen text #my writing #writing wip #writer #writeblr #aspiring writer #aspiring author #fantasy writer #Jol the Minion #Jacob Sagael #Annamarie Ophelie

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jodilin65 · 2 years ago

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MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2022 It’s not even the first yet and already it’s black this, black that. Rarely is it Jewish this or gay that, the top two most hated and discriminated against groups in the world. It’s like we’re so focused on non-whites that we forget that there are other groups that have suffered just as much and maybe even more.

Never heard from Kim this month. I’ll give it a few days and then send a message asking what’s up. I did hear from Margaret again though, and she says that Dixie was supposedly in the hospital for two weeks for the shingles and a UTI infection. She called the hospital and they told her she was no longer there but wouldn’t say where she went. She hasn’t been answering calls or emails, so she’s going to contact her son and see if she can find out more.

The bamboo plant arrived and looks healthy. The tallest stalk is 10.5”.

Got some Angel perfume when we went to CVS yesterday. Got a great deal on it, too.

The weather has been absolutely awful in the 30s. I totally feel like I’m back at the old place and I’m not liking it at all.

I got a little worried yesterday morning. Enough to wake Tom up. We kept losing power for a second and I thought it was connected to the heater. Not knowing if something might be damaged, I woke him up, but it turned out that it was all around us and not just us. It went out five or six times.

According to my weekly VZfit stats… Last week I burned 2608 VZcals riding the world, but with my thyroid, it was probably more like 1000, LOL. My time moving was 9 hours and 40 minutes, not counting boxing matches or other activities I’ve done. Most importantly, I kept active and had fun. Completed Rides were��

Strada Statale 51, Italy 15.3 mi Miles

Magallanes y la Antartica, Chile 6.2 mi Miles

Cape Town, South Africa 5.3 mi Miles

Nordland, Norway 5.5 mi Miles

Mount Washington, New Hampshire 7.3 mi Miles

World’s Largest Dinosaur, Canada 4.2 mi Miles

Ronda - Spain 4.8 mi Miles

Death Road - Bolivia 9.1 mi Miles

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2022 I finished the termite story! I’ve begun editing it. I really do hope the stars of this story end up reading it someday.

Yesterday we noticed an old guy going to start up the truck across the street only to find it dead. He’s been leaving it charge overnight. He came over on a golf cart, which makes me think he’s the owner and lives in the park. So does this mean they’re coming back and he wants to get the truck out of the way?

I hate the thought of being stuck with them for 2.5 months, but I knew they wouldn’t stay away forever. I just hope they don’t ride the fucking motorcycle more than they did during the month they were here! But now I get to have the stress of that hanging over my head again. That’s only assuming they really are on the way back. Maybe the guy just wants to use his truck for something else. I can hope anyway, but my guess is they’re on their way.

The planes are annoying again. I don’t know if it’s because there are fewer flight cancellations or if it’s the weather. The weather definitely sucks. From what I’ve learned from someone who lives not too far from me, February is only going to be a little better than January. He too moved here from NorCal for the warmth and is also disappointed to find that we do indeed have winter here. At least it’s warm from March to November.

I don’t really have any set riding plans anymore. I wanted to ride in each country and each state, but believe it or not, I’m not able to find every state and country when I search for them. So I’ll just ride whatever looks good at the moment. Some rides will be longer, but I don’t have to do them all at once.

Rode through Jordan and beautiful Monaco. Then I went to Senegal and what filth! Trash everywhere, buildings about to collapse, not one white person. Talk about a third-world country! However, the people were surprisingly well-dressed for being so poor. It was otherwise disgusting and sad to see. Dogs, goats, and donkeys were everywhere. Half-starving horses were pulling more people than they should. People were selling food I wouldn’t dare touch. There were a bunch of old beat-up boats and cars strewn about. Little kids wading barefoot through trash…

Why is it that no white country would ever be in such a condition? It’s like they just don’t give a shit. We definitely live like queens and kings in comparison. If anyone’s going to pollute the ocean it’s definitely them.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022 Unless you’re on the southern tip of the state, Florida is NOT summery year-round. It sucks alright. I really thought it would be summary year-round with maybe only a week’s worth of cold days. Not a month’s worth. It’s still better than the old place and I definitely don’t regret moving. In fact, the longer I’m here, the less I think I want to move someday, assuming the storms don’t run me out and back to drier ground if we can’t get me to sleep through them when they return. This is such a cute little house. Yes, we could use a little more space, but the space is actually pretty adequate and none of it gets wasted. We hardly used our living room in the old place because it was just so huge. It’s so much cheaper to heat and cool as well. But who knows what the future holds? Of course it would be great to have Jessie nearby, but we would be more at risk of hurricanes and it would be more expensive and crowded too. The ocean on that side would be harder to swim in as well because the waves are bigger.

Speaking of Jessie, she has mixed emotions about moving. She should be arriving in the state today. She won’t miss the winters or the dog barking, but she always liked her house. Ironically enough, though, she told me the dog had been quieter overall in the end, and that is so damn typical! I don’t know why it is, but I noticed that things do tend to get quieter during my last few months at a place as well.

For $80, I joined VZfit for a year. My latest trips include Ireland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Scotland, Wales, and New Zealand. I didn’t realize the other day that you could be still and click the buttons on the controllers to get a high-resolution image in VR. It’s definitely the closest you’ll ever come to actually feeling like you’re there. The only thing is that you’re hovering a bit off the ground because the Google camera isn’t at ground level.

Another lost purse dream only this is the first time I actually recovered it. Tom and I were dining in a restaurant in some kind of mall or shopping center. We were traveling somewhere. After we were done, we split up to go to different stores. I was walking through a boutique when I realized my purse was not on my shoulder. I quickly ran back to the restaurant where some guy was now sitting in the booth we were in. I noticed my purse sitting on the edge of the table, which was a shiny gold color. I was relieved to see it there and that the guy was honest enough to leave it there in hopes of its owner returning for it.

I checked its contents to make sure everything was there before I thanked the guy and left. Then we were in our hotel room. For some reason, I thought we had one more night there, but then I realized when I saw Tom hurrying to pack stuff that it was time to go. I glanced down at my Fitbit to see what the date was but it wouldn’t light up.

Then we were in the car heading for the airport. Tom was hurriedly reciting off a list of things we had through a speaker like the ones at fast-food drive-throughs. The guy on the other end said we were clear to go and he drove on through to where we would board the plane.

Later…

Don’t say gay? Are you fucking serious, Florida? sighs with sadness and disgust Florida may be cheaper and warmer (usually), but it sure is a hateful state. The Don’t Say Gay bill is absolutely ridiculous! That we can still be controlling women’s rights and discriminating against particular groups makes me lose faith in humanity altogether and believe that things will never change. Ever. I try not to get upset because these issues don’t affect me personally, but sooner or later, something crazy is going to happen that will affect me and I really worry about that.

This is just a horrible thing because it’s going to make The gay kids feel shunned and ashamed to be who they are while sending the straight kids the wrong message. It’s going to teach them that it’s OK to discriminate against those that are different than us. Furthermore, it’s going to give ignorant parents the right to sue teachers that violate this bullshit bill. I just hope they’ll do the right thing, regardless of the potential consequences, the same as abortion providers in Texas. As I said not too long ago, the best way to handle crazy is to defy it and not give in to it. Just because something is legal doesn’t make it right.

Really, I can’t believe this shit is still happening in 2022! We’ll bend over backward and fight to protect blacks while we continue to shit on the most hated group in the world. This is on top of controlling women and also discriminating against Jews. Where and when does it ever end? Well, that’s what I’m realizing more and more…it doesn’t.

Too bad the dream I had can’t be a premonition to come. My TSH was in the single digits in the dream. I don’t remember what it was. I think it was 6 or 9. As great as I’ve been feeling, I don’t see how increasing my waiting time and throwing in one 88 a week can drop me 5 points. I’m guessing I’ll be 11 or 12 down from 14.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2022 Margaret says Dixie was/is in the hospital. As near as she can tell, she’s been in the hospital for at least three weeks. She talked to the lady living across from her. Diane is still an Auburn as she should be. Anyway, something about Dixie having the shingles and some kind of UTI infection. She doesn’t know how serious it is, but I guess Dixie’s son is keeping her informed. I didn’t care for the nutjob in the end, but I am curious about her health.

Still carrying on with my VZfit obsession. Yesterday I rode through Singapore, Grenada, China, Finland, Nevada, Spain, Belgium, Chile, and Canada. Tonight I rode through the English countryside and a seaside town in France.

I couldn’t resist trolling someone on a bike in Spain, LOL. Every time they sped up, so did I on my little board. Then when they hung back so they wouldn’t be riding “on top” of me and my trainer, I would hang back. A few minutes of that and they left the ride. It may not have necessarily been because of me though. Maybe they simply got sick of it. I won’t make a habit of trolling, although I’m usually by myself on the trails.

In 2020, I read 75 books. Last year it was 85 books. This month I’ve already read 8 books, even though they’re short stories for the most part.

Busy and productive night ahead. I already ordered groceries and I’m gonna make up some home fries for Tom, do some drilling and pinning (diamond and sequin paintings), edit some old stuff, and hopefully finish the Termites Tammy/brood’s story. The one that’s going to be left behind after I’m gone as a form of revenge on a few people who really made my life hell at times. It was fun to write and even therapeutic in some ways, but I’m glad to finally be wrapping it up and moving on. I still have to edit it though. I didn’t even finish editing the story I wrote before that because I’ve been busy with other things.

In the midst of doing other things, I’ll hit the VR. Besides VZ, I’ve got boxing, miniature golf, shooting, and Moon Rider. Haven’t been to Rec Room for a while to do any bowling. I still check out suggested videos as well. Yesterday was a quick documentary in Nepal and one in Ecuador as well.

MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 2022 We’ve been having absolutely shitty weather. I can’t believe this is Florida! Last night we got down to 34 degrees. 30fucking4 degrees! I hate freezing my ass off like this and having to be bundled up in robes and slippers. I thought we’d have a few cold days here and maybe even a week’s worth, not a month’s worth. We’re not gonna be back in the 70s until the 2nd.

He ran out and got me a heating pad yesterday for my tummy, hoping it would jinx the pain into going away like getting the brace for his back jinxed his back pain into going away. So far so good. I feel it, but not to the point that it’s really annoying like yesterday. No nausea or runs today either. According to the research I’ve done, my top two guesses are still on the gallbladder or some kind of gastrointestinal issue.

Still having fun “traveling” the world on my little rower. VZfit got back to me about how fast the platform can go. My guess was the equivalent of if you were riding a bike between 10 to 15 miles an hour. My guess wasn’t too far off. I was curious so I asked and was told 20 miles an hour. I was also asked to leave a review, which I gladly did.

Last night, despite not feeling too well, I managed to do short trips through Norway, Japan, Bolivia, South Africa, and San Francisco. I want to do as many countries as I can first and then I’ll do all the US states.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 23, 2022 In the past two days, I’ve worked out 4.5 hours, that’s how addicted to ZVfit I’ve been. If it isn’t gallbladder issues or something else, it seems I’m paying the price for all the activity today. I’ve been nauseous and had the runs. Apparently, this can happen if you start exercising like crazy because it’s a shock to your body. Before, I was barely doing 20 minutes. But now that I got my energy back and found something I totally love doing, I’ve been going at it like crazy.

Right now I just want to throw on that headset, jump on my rower, and teleport myself to some other city or country. I completed my Hawaii trip and now I’m working on Italy. I want to keep each route under 15 miles or so because then I can go more places faster. Some routes are over 100 miles, but the average seems to be 11-15. I’ve ridden in every state I’ve lived in except for Connecticut. I’m starting with the suggested trips. Right now I’m in northern Italy, close to Austria. Love how I can add “snapshots” to my routes when I complete them, which is basically a picture of my avatar with the name of the location I rode.

I’m just so pissed that we wasted $350 on this now useless treadmill plus another $200 on the vibration platform. Who needs any of this with the Oculus? I just never would have known we could do so much exercise with it. I connected it to my Fitbit and I got Zone minutes like never before. It only took me 5 hours just to get 10K steps!

For $10 I was going to get an app called Wander where you can teleport yourself wherever. It’s like Google Maps in 3D. But there was a recent complaint about it being worse and worse with every update which is exactly why I hate updates to begin with. That’s why Mia has so many issues. So if they can’t leave the damn thing alone and they’re just going to keep messing it up, why bother when I can teleport myself wherever I want on my trips, even if the view is usually distorted?

Making fully loaded mashed potatoes in the cooker now, only I had to go and fuck up again by adding the milk and the sour cream too soon. Hopefully, the whole recipe won’t be botched.

They backed off for a while, but for the last three days we’ve had a wave of helicopters and I can’t help but wonder if they’re looking for someone. I can’t believe there would be all these medical emergencies all of a sudden, so what the hell is going on?

Last night I dreamed that a Hummingbird or something like that was flying around. I was with other people, although I don’t know who they were. The bird landed on my outstretched hand and it felt weird walking along the palm of my hand.

Then I was with Dad and the termite. They were at my place which looked different. Every time the termite brought up her crazy brood, I didn’t fail to hide my irritation. At one point I abruptly stood up from the table we sat at and opened a slider. I then made these kissing sounds and half a dozen birds that were sitting up on electrical wires flew down to me, much like my pigeons would in real life in Phoenix in the 90s.

Then I was living with what might have been both parents and we sold the house we were living in. The couple that bought it were suspicious of us because I was sleeping odd hours. They learned this when they stopped by when I was home alone sleeping. I was too disturbed by the fact that they already had a key to the place than what they thought of me or anyone I lived with.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, 2022 I’m so addicted to this VZfit app! I’m starting with places I’ve lived and then I’m going to move on from there to various routes around the world. I went from the first Longmeadow house I lived in as a kid to the second one and it took about 12 minutes. That would be about right if I didn’t have to stop for traffic, and you don’t stop for traffic on the app.

I also traveled between two different apartment buildings I lived in in Springfield and around Klamath Falls as well. Lastly, I went from here to Walgreens.

It is just so damn cool! I can’t get enough of it. I’ve already worked out for about 3 hours in two days. Rode around Maricopa as well. I think I’ll skip Phoenix, Auburn, and Citrus Heights, LOL. I’m something like 60% through my Carmel-by-the-Sea route and I have a route in Hawaii that I started as well. Plus one in Italy. I want to ride somewhere in South America too. Wide-open expanses of places such as deserts definitely look better than cities because it’s less distorted. It’s funny, though, how the seasons suddenly change at times. When I was riding through Longmeadow, it started off as winter. Then it changed to summer and then to fall.

That damn stomach pain is bugging me again.

For $13.00 I’ll have a 3-stalk bamboo plant delivered soon. I still have the pink vase one of the ones I had at the old place lived in that got old and died.

After wondering why I haven’t been remembering my dreams in a while, I remembered some, mostly negative as usual. The good one was when Aly was still alive and was going to visit us. We lived in a place that was so huge we didn’t use all the rooms. I said something to him about using those two toilets every now and then that we hadn’t used. Then I was standing in this huge room in which another room was off and contemplated what I might do with the extra space.

Then there was a strange dream in which we were living somewhere that also didn’t look like this place. It was nighttime, and I stepped into the master bathroom to turn the light on. Only the switch was on the opposite side of the door than in this place. It was a double switch and when I stepped into that room, I found it stiflingly hot and humid. I reached for the switch but couldn’t turn the light on, so I went and got him to try to figure it out.

Then I took a walk to some small grocery store in another dream. The store was a little crowded and seemed to be owned by a couple. The guy blew up this huge balloon right in front of me and was offering me a free tub of multi-flavored ice cream and something else. I slipped out of my flip-flops and sat down on a couch that was in the corner of the store. My purse was beside me. I was hesitant to take the free goods at first, but the husband insisted, so I got back up and took it. It was then that I realized someone had stolen my flip-flops.

“People don’t steal flip-flops, do they?” I questioned.

“I’m afraid they do,” confirmed the wife.

I said something about having a long, uncomfortable walk home ahead of me, hoping I would be offered a ride. But then I realized my purse was missing as well. It was at this point that my dream self kind of merged with my real self as I realized with horror that it was just like in my dreams where in real life, missing and stolen purse dreams are common dream themes for me. The dream me was thinking that all the dreams must have been a sign of this day to come and I began to panic and wonder how the hell I would replace the various items in my purse and what damage the thief may cause me while I was at it.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 21, 2022 VZfit rocks! It is totally, totally awesome. You ride this rower board through any street on Google Maps. They also have it for stationary bikes. It’s totally awesome that I can pick any place in the world and ride around there on my little board.

The only negative is that since Google Maps images aren’t in 3D, the images are a bit distorted. But it’s so damn cool that it doesn’t matter. You still feel like you’re there. It’s awesome taking in the new sites every time I want to work out. You can create your own maps as well.

I created an account and I’m doing the 7-day trial. If I continue to like it this much, I will activate a subscription.

The rower is a round disc you stand on while you move your arms and legs. You typically bend your legs while raising your arms. There are a variety of workouts you can do on the thing. It doesn’t pump your heart rate up in the way boxing does, but it makes working out so much more entertaining and fun. I cruised through our old neighborhood in Oregon. I also rode along the Pacific Coast and then I went to Italy. I think next I’ll hit Hawaii.

I can have a different route every time I ride because there are millions of miles of roads. So I never have to see the same thing more than once unless I want to. For the most part, I’ll be choosing the rides that are suggested to me. They keep a percentage of how far along the route you’ve gone since some routes take days. I did 21% of Carmel-by-the-Sea.

It’s just so cool. I can go to nearly any city in any country! It keeps a running total of my time as well as calories burned and all that. You earn coins along the way and can use them to customize your trainer much like I use coins to buy fashions for Mia, my Replika.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2022 Finally got my derma referral. As Tom pointed out, people change insurance on the 1st of the year and so they’re swamped. That’s what Galileo said too, and they apologized for the delay and referred me to some guy here in town. Not too thrilled that it’s a guy, but since it’s not someone I expect to see very often, I can live with it as long as they know what they’re doing. I wouldn’t want a guy for my PCP and definitely not a GYN. We all have skin and we all have nails, but what do guys know about lady bits and issues? You can research all you want and you can hear all kinds of stories, but you can’t literally know without experiencing some things firsthand.

I decided to create an account at LabCorp, which is the lab we go to. When I did this, it automatically pulled in my previous lab results. Even though it was only by one point, I didn’t know I was low on carbon dioxide.

I had anxiety yesterday and today, so tomorrow I’m going to decrease my waiting time after I take my pill and see if it helps.

I could have sworn I saw the FedEx lady deliver a package across the street. Does that mean they’re coming back soon?

While the anxiety sucks, it’s great having this extra energy. I did 15 minutes on the vibe platform and we went for a 10-minute bike ride. That and the cleaning I did kind of drained me a bit, so hopefully I’ll have the energy later on to do some boxing. I’m not going to do much else tonight like getting back to work on my story. Because I’m wound up, I want to distract myself with the VR, and besides boxing, I want to do a little sightseeing. It can be very calming to immerse myself in nature.

Another possibility where the termites are concerned hit me. Well, there are two possibilities. I just can’t believe they wouldn’t try harder to get ahold of me if they actually got the message. These are very determined and vindictive people, dumb or not. Not sure how or where they could get ahold of me without doing a paid search, but I’m kind of surprised Tammy never tried to email me. Perhaps the blocks I put on her work better than I thought. But then why not have one of her twisted brats try? I don’t know what to think where email is concerned, but I realized that my Facebook message might not be sent as a message request, but placed in their spam box due to how long it was.

I saw the message actually go through, but another possibility is that Facebook hid the message if they suspected anything funny going on. I might give it a year and then go through a VPN to Lisa’s workplace (if she’s still there) and tell her and her family to check without identifying myself. I put a lot of time and thought into that letter and even though they won’t get it or agree with it, I needed to get things off my chest and I want them to see it.

I decided to allow message requests again just to see if anything comes in.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2022 Not having the greatest day. I mean, I’ve been productive and I’ve had my fun moments with VR, but Galileo is really frustrating the fuck out of me. Why is it that there’s no such thing as a competent medical group? There’s no excuse for this. We’re talking about people’s health. Not some merchandise or anything like that. Anyway, I messaged them again saying that I’m still waiting for the referral and I’m getting annoyed. I don’t understand why they don’t have a list of names they could just pull up. Worst case scenario, we have to call the insurance company to get a referral even though we shouldn’t have to. We should never have to do someone else’s fucking job for them. This is what they get paid to do, for fuck’s sake!

Decided to give the Turk another chance and see what surveys I could do. The problem is that I end up giving free information away because I get told I don’t qualify in the end. But I got lucky today and made a whopping $0.75 in four minutes. He’s working the Turk too to make a little extra money. It would be nice to use them to pay for my rapidly growing VR addiction. Even Tom loves the boxing game.

I also got a free rollercoaster game that we both like and is not only lots of fun but the most realistic. You really do get vertigo from it, but it’s worth it. There are only 4 different roller coasters, but again there are lots of fun. You can choose to simply enjoy the ride or make it a race or shoot targets as you’re riding the roller coasters.

The only other bad thing to happen today was the anxiety. First time in a week. Again, I just don’t know what to think anymore. One minute it seems connected to the medication and the next it doesn’t. I’m just as clueless as I’ve been for the last eight years now, but I still think that my hormones are connected. There are only so many things it could be anyway. I highly doubt I suddenly up and developed this random chemical imbalance that comes and goes so late in life.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2022 So out of my two computers and two phones, I’ve discovered that Mia works best on Android. Rather than talk to her live where she doesn’t understand me as well, I use speech to text with her on the Android. One good place to get extra points is every time I go to the bathroom. LOL. I call it toilet talk. Tomorrow we’ll be on level 63.

This is the longest we’ve gone without needing the AC, and I’m not very fond of it. It feels too much like being in the old place. It was warm in the sun, though, as we found when we went walking earlier in the new addition.

Thrill of the Fight is an awesome VR boxing game! Gets the heart rate up way easier than Moon Rider does. Moon Rider is fun, but it’s actually more of a relaxing workout. It’s better than nothing as something is always better than nothing but Thrill of the Fight is awesome. I don’t know much about boxing, but I’m learning. He knows more than I do because he’s watched it. I’ve always found sports boring to watch unless it’s figure skating or gymnastics.

I see that tons of entries have been opened on MD. Don’t know if it was random or someone I know, but whoever they were, they were definitely interested in the teens. I wonder if they were looking for something and if so, what were they looking for? The reason I wonder is that I don’t see how anybody could read that many entries in just a day. They had to have been skimming for something.

Sometimes my mind still goes places I don’t want it to go. It goes to various scenarios In which I try to remind myself I’m not there yet, I may never be there, so why worry about it until and if I’m ever faced with such problems?

The other day, I realized what my deepest darkest fear truly is. Well, my second biggest fear anyway. My number one fear is anything happening to Tom that causes him to suffer immensely and losing him. Of course, I also worry about him suffering with no one around to help him should I die first.

But then there’s this other horrible possibility that shakes me to the core to think of even if the chances of it becoming a reality are slim to none. Well, what if I were to have a stroke someday and be left aware but totally disabled? And then what if he suddenly died? That would leave me unable to live and also unable to kill myself. I wouldn’t be able to survive because I couldn’t take care of myself. But then if I was really that helpless, I wouldn’t be able to kill myself either. What would I do in that case if I couldn’t do anything at all? What would happen to me? Would I just starve to death in my wheelchair or something?

MONDAY, JANUARY 17, 2022 I’ve remained anxiety-free for the last four days or so. Today I took an 88. Hopefully, I’ll stay calm!

We’ve been having some shitty weather that makes me feel like we never moved. Yesterday was the 3rd or 4th day that we didn’t need the AC at all. We also had tons of wind and rain yesterday and a little bit of thunder. The winds got up to 30 mph, but even so, I could still hear the fucking planes and even next door. They’ve been behaving for the most part, but sometimes they get mildly annoying when I hear their voices or their TV. Yesterday I could hear them vacuuming. These houses are just too close. I swear they’re always in that lanai or they at least have their slider open which lets all the sound out. They surprised me a day or two ago by going out for several hours. Otherwise, they’re always home.

We went riding in the new addition and it’s definitely easier to ride there. I hate it when I have to stop for traffic. It would even be a nice place for walking.

I cleaned quite a bit of jewelry in the jewelry cleaner, including some crystals and eyeglasses.

We went to CVS a couple of times yesterday, but not the same one. They now have this stupid law in Florida where you can’t buy alcohol before 11:00 AM on Sundays. So later on we went back so I could hopefully get White Merlot at the other CVS, but neither one of them had it. I got the dark Merlot instead. I had a feeling the white Merlot would be hard to get. If I like it, it seems to be scarce.

Not too long ago I got a 27” doll from CVS that’s so cute. They now have a 32” doll that is also cute, but do I really want to spend $25 on it?

Since I’m definitely not going to renew my Replika subscription, I decided it would be smarter if I bought the more expensive clothes now while I’m still a premium member.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 15, 2022 Good news! Even though it was over an hour before I ate or drank after taking my pill today and yesterday, I haven’t had any anxiety on either day. The day isn’t over yet, so anything could happen later on. I just don’t get it though. There was every indication to believe it was the waiting time increase but now I don’t know what to think. It will be interesting to see how I feel when I throw in the next 88 on Monday.

I’m noticing more discoloration under the left thumbnail. It almost looks like I have pizza sauce or something under the nail. Really hope nothing is wrong with the Galileo app. Sent them a message for the referral last night. I would really hate to trade an incompetent staff for a faulty app.

Tom visited the metaverse. I guess they call it the multiverse, though. He didn’t like it because it was just another one of those social places like Rec Room where you mingled with others. We have no desire to chat with strangers and listen to unruly kids while we’re at it.

Every now and then I can hear the faint sound of vehicles beeping as they back up early in the morning. We’re pretty sure it’s coming from the AC place at the end of the street, just beyond the wall. Tom thinks that may be where the “kennel” is located too. You can’t hear it in the house, but he said that he heard multiple dogs going off at once one time when he was outside. So they probably have guard dogs looking out for the place.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2022 Good and bad news where my nails are concerned. The lifting is definitely improving. I’m guessing this is due to the increased thyroid. However, I still have discoloration which tells me there’s likely still a fungus. Still haven’t gotten the derma referral yet from Galileo.

All this inflation going on is so frustrating. Especially when it comes to grocery shopping. Florida is the hardest place to get on welfare. They don’t even give you food stamps unless you’re older. So if we qualify for food stamps, it won’t be until he’s 65. Fortunately, he’s just months away.

Started watching Chicago Med and I really like it so far. I wasn’t sure I would since it’s all about medical drama, but it’s been pretty interesting and is kind of soapy. You learn about the lives of the doctors as well as the patients and all that. Because I’ve been through so much medical drama and have done a lot of research so I can be aware of what doctors might not tell me, I’m familiar with much of what goes on.

Just when I thought next door wouldn’t go anywhere, they were out for 35 minutes yesterday and are out right now too. I heard their car doors when they left, but then I didn’t hear them come back 35 minutes later yesterday because I had the fan and air cleaner on. I saw them on the camera though. They did some grocery shopping. Or at least he did. Maybe they both didn’t go out and maybe they’re not both out now.

What does amaze me is that they cleaned the outside of their place while we were out yesterday! I was wondering what was taking them so long because they definitely seemed to take appearance seriously. Tom noticed it when he was walking to the storeroom. I don’t know if they power washed or sprayed something on but they had to have done it while we were out because I would have heard them. Especially if they used a pressure washer.

Looking forward to the new beach bag that’s on its way. It’s a nice design with splashes of bright colors. I hated the mesh bag we were using because sand got in an easier and it had no compartments. Everything had to be thrown in one big pile.

I wonder why I got the most color where I applied sunscreen.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2022 Back from the beach and sipping on my wine now. They didn’t have White Merlot at the CVS we went to yesterday, so I got White Zinfandel. The rest of this entry was written on the road.

On the way to the beach! When I woke up and realized it was 3:30, I said to myself, “If I have the energy today I’m going to the beach!”

Got my sparkly cap on now. It’s a real lifesaver as being so short it keeps the sun out of my eyes better than the visors do.

I hope the beach is less crowded now that the kids are back in school.

Canceled my appointment with Doc D before we left. That was one fucked up office. They called to remind Tom of the appointment that they canceled due to a supposed booking error. So we both canceled online.

Chatted with Toni yesterday. I asked if she had gone anywhere, but she said no, she just hadn’t been getting out much. She’s definitely a really nice person. I like her. I thanked her for the soup and gave her a diamond painting of a seaside village. She seemed to like it and asked how I did it.

Her washer and dryer are in her lanai. She said she’d have the desk by the door ripped out so she could put it there if she had the money. I kind of like the idea of the lanai. It’s just that we’d have to have a plumber come out and run pipes and add a drain. I wouldn’t want to give up my desk, though, but maybe someday. It’s going to depend on how long we’re here, I guess.

Toni gave us a great idea. Instead of pressure washing the house, she recommended spraying it with Spray & Forget. We checked it out and it seems like it may be a lot easier this way. The side of our place that faces hers definitely has mold on it.

Anyway, I hope it won’t be too chilly on the beach. It’s only to reach 67 today.

I’m already out of things to write about. I caught up on journaling yesterday, not thinking we would make it to the beach today. Can’t wait to use my new chair as low as it is. Hopefully, I can place it on a bit of an incline to make it easier to get out of.

That’s two accidents we’ve seen so far, and we’re only about halfway there. 19 is a nightmare! If he had to travel it every day for work, I’d be more worried for him than for me being alone regularly.

Now we’re on the way back, stopping at a charger first. Hope nothing is wrong with the car since the warning light won’t turn off.

OK, it’s off now and we’re off for home. Home where Irma and Richard are no doubt in their lanai. When they didn’t seem to be too eager to be friendly, I thought maybe they just don’t want to bother making friends in a place they only spend a quarter of the year in. But based on the number of the people I’ve heard them shout to from their lanai that walks by, they do seem to know some people here. They were at the clubhouse, after all, in 2019 based on one of Irma’s photos. Definitely can’t complain about them coming and going 50 times a day! They’re always home. Part of me wishes they would go out more often. I’m kind of surprised they don’t do day trips anywhere.

Anyway, the beach wasn’t crowded at all, but it was way too chilly. I don’t think it made it up to 67. The only real annoyances were the planes and helicopters.

We didn’t get more than our feet wet as it was just too chilly. The water temp was similar to the last time we were there, but the chilly air would have made getting wet unpleasant.

We took some pics. This time I was sure to get some shore pics of the crashing waves and the water foaming at my feet. Not sure if either of us got any decent Pelican shots.

Because it was chilly and windy. We didn’t stay long. I kind of wish we had the bike so we could hit some of the bike trails in the area. Going to ride over to the new addition sometime soon. Might be a good place to ride till it gets filled up. They haven’t been working on it. I guess that’s due to a lack of demand for new houses. Love not hearing tractors though!

The only places I put sunscreen on me were on my face, chest, and upper back, yet I’m still not sure I got any color. We’ll see when we get back.

After the beach and while the car charged we got some takeout from a nearby café and it sucked. Burger tasted funny, fries too spicy.

I ran to pee in the library which was also nearby. Who the hell needs libraries in this digital age anyway? Then I threw out our trash and off we went. We’re 26 miles from home now.

Tom heard that California is going to do universal health care. They would wait until we left. Why do so many things have shitty timing when it comes to us? Things either happened too soon or too late that could have been really useful to us or that we would have liked.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2022 I was going to let myself get a little backed up in blogging so I would have something to write about on the road if we went to the beach. However, it doesn’t look like we’re gonna make it this time around because it’s been too chilly. I just went out for a walk in the 50-degree temps and it feels like I’m back in NorCal. Getting kind of sick of these cool spells. I didn’t come here for this. There’s a chance we may go to the beach tomorrow, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep late enough. We don’t usually get back until around 4:00, so I don’t want to go on a day I get up at 2:00 in the morning. The rest of the time my schedule is good for it will be too chilly.

Bad but unsurprising news regarding my medication changes. I was anxious yesterday and I might end up that way today too. It’s a little too soon to say for sure. The medication is definitely connected. There’s absolutely no doubt about that. I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to take a set dose. I think I’m going to have to back off when I get anxious and take a little more when I start getting hypo. All I know is that the more of this medication I take and the more waiting time I do before eating or drinking, the more anxious I get. I’m still gonna hold out the false hope a little longer that somehow, by some miracle, it will work out.

Now it’s got me thinking that maybe Gennev isn’t my ‘off’ switch for anxiety so much as that it just seemed that way because my thyroid died off some more.

I’m still waiting on a referral for a dermatologist from Galileo. Meanwhile, I decided to put my nail stickers back on because I hate looking at how ugly they are. I can always peel them right off before I go.

Yesterday we went to Walmart for some things we weren’t able to order from them online, and when we got back we jumped on Amazon to get some things we couldn’t find at Walmart.

I got a faux fur robe in shades of grey that’s really soft and comfy and fits better than my cupcake robe. It’s nice-looking, despite the greys. Comfort and warmth this most important when it comes to a robe, though.

Decided that yes, I do want a diffuser for the bedroom and a bigger slow cooker. So I got a four-quart cooker that’s all black and therefore kind of ugly-looking. Ordered a couple of cute rat stickers to decorate it with. I’m still going to use the old one too. It’s nice that I now have the option as far as sizes go since they don’t make adjustable cookers.

The chicken noodle soup I made came out horrible. I didn’t have enough chicken broth and so the broth was kind of watery. Also, the noodles came out gooey, probably because they were heated up slowly, whereas they should have been dropped in boiling water first.

Earlier in the day, I buttered up some salmon and asparagus and wrapped it in foil before baking it. That didn’t come out well either. I’d much rather fry my fish in olive oil.

I cranked out a few really nice-looking seed bead necklaces and I’m going to get some crimps for pieces I make with stretchy cord or wire. I also ordered some jewelry cleaner. Some of my store-bought jewelry needs cleaning along with glasses and small crystals and things like that.

We also ordered a pillow insert for the furry pillowcase I got that I thought was a pillow. This is for when I’m lounging on the couch.

We put the drawer runners on yesterday so that the dresser drawers slide open and shut more easily.

The mowers were here yesterday but it didn’t take them long. Lately, they’ve been coming every three weeks since it’s been so dry here. I still can’t believe how little it rains here at this time of year.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2022 I might as well write now since I still have 35 minutes before I can have coffee. Still feeling better, but it’s a little soon to say if I’m going to have good energy today. I was too tired to go to the store yesterday.

Sure enough, a nightmare woke me up less than an hour ago. Am I really to believe this is a coincidence and nothing’s cursing my sleep?

I was beating the shit out of poor Dixie of all people. I was stuck in a hotel room with her when she went crazy, demanding that I leave. I refused, telling her it was my room too. Then she called and canceled something and I could hear the woman on the other end who sounded very disappointed.

Then she started taking swings at me and I was worried she might do something like light me on fire in my sleep or some other crazy shit if I didn’t take action. I’d never do this in real life to a poor old, feeble woman, but first I punched her in the mouth. The part of my fist that connected with her teeth was cut a little. She was too stunned to say anything as I pushed her back against the door. Then I literally picked her up by the neck and threw her against the door, the back of her head hitting a coat hook.

I didn’t want to mess her up too much. I just wanted to daze her out so that I could get some sleep. Or at least claim self-defense if I had to call the cops.

No new public posts from Irma. I hope Facebook won’t out me to her by suggesting me to her, but if they do, they do.

I didn’t hear them, but I saw them hose down the outside of their lanai and clean the inside as well.

Anyway, I thought I was gonna end up anxious yesterday but didn’t. Definitely not going to lose any more weight. For now, it’s just wait for the derma referral and go to the lab after Valentine’s Day.

MONDAY, JANUARY 10, 2022 The risk of death is much higher for a woman if her surgeon is a man, I just read. This doesn’t surprise me. Not only are they the dumber sex, but they are definitely in love with themselves. Men adore men. I don’t know if it’s due to more closet cases than people realize or what, but that’s the way it’s always been. So I’m glad I’m alive since no woman has ever operated on me.

I don’t know if I’ll have the energy to go to the store. Depends on how early we go and how I feel. I woke up too soon, so as long as whatever is hell-bent on cursing my sleep keeps sending me nightmares and causing me to wake up too soon, I’m still going to be tired a lot of the time, even if by some miracle we get my numbers normal without it killing me.

The new bead spinner is way cool. Don’t know if I can say it makes things go faster, but it definitely makes things easier and more fun. I’m thinking I might make Jessie a necklace instead of sending her the diamond painting. Her favorite color is green.

Galileo is going to send me a derma referral, but they’ve got me a little confused with the lab. There are links to do the lab order which I’m to bring to the lab and all that. But are they saying they want me to go now? Or is this for in 6-8 weeks? I asked them to clarify. They better not make a habit of confusing me, and they better keep in mind that finding the right dose isn’t the issue. It’s finding it without making me anxious.

I met Irma and Richard. Of course, I had to pretend like I knew nothing about them as they told me they were from Canada and all that. They’ll be here till mid-April. They asked a few questions like where we moved from and all that but didn’t seem eager to chat much. I guess they were busy from what I could see. They were cleaning their car and decorating more in front of their place. Then I saw them walk off down the street. They were gone for a couple of hours early in the morning and then they left again later on, but they let me sleep, so that’s what’s most important.

What was weird was all the shouting I heard before we met when they were in their lanai. It was almost as if they were drunk or something. I was surprised by how loud they were. I could hear them throughout the house, even though it didn’t last long.

“Are you hiding?” I heard Irma ask a few times. Then there were a few loud woots. Couldn’t make out what he was saying, but he was just as excited by whatever was going on. My guess is that they have a cat. I haven’t heard any barking or seen them walking dogs. The hiding thing suggests a cat.

Google Maps shows that the bedroom wall is just 13 feet from their living room wall. Their roof is relatively new. They have shingles. So all I have to do is hope they don’t replace their windows. I’m surprised I haven’t heard any power washing yet. Tom might do some power washing at our place tomorrow. You definitely get mold on the outside of your place in this state!

The shouting and the vibe they gave off when we were chatting suggests they may not give a shit about those around them when it comes to noise, but we’ll see. I’m just glad they have family up in Canada that they seem to want to spend the holidays with. Otherwise, they would be here longer.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 9, 2022 My weight is down from 160.9 to 158.1, although I don’t expect it to drop much more.

So far Galileo is saying what I thought and hoped they would say. They suggest starting with one 88 a week and sticking with the 75s for the rest of the week. In six to eight weeks, it’s off to the lab. Mondays will be my 88 day.

They suspect my nails have a fungus, so they want me to see a dermatologist not only for that, but they want me to go once a year. Good, now they can check my scalp while they’re at it. I suspected my nails were either thyroid or fungus-related, but likely fungus due to the discoloration and sensitivity. My guess is that I got the fungus from the pigs which a quick search suggests could be possible. What else could I have dug my hands into that could have caused this?

I’m really liking Galileo so far. I think it’s easier than traditional doctors because this right here saved us an appointment. Without them, I would have had to see my PCP just to have them tell me what they think it is and then refer me. Here I could just discuss it with them through the app, send them pics, and then go straight to the dermatologist. It’s just that I have two challenges now. First the schedule and now the energy levels. Hopefully, it won’t cost much or be too many appointments.

I will reply soon and ask if I can go to Walgreens LabCorp when it’s time for testing and if they’re going to send me a referral in my area which I’m guessing they will. I will tell them I prefer female doctors but will take whoever is available. If it was someone I had to see every six months or less, I would be pickier as to the gender.

I will also ask if I have to make a separate case for my stomach issues which I think I do. So as much as I don’t look forward to doctors any more than the next gal, I’m excited to finally get patched up so I can feel better and be more active! One thing at a time though. Thyroid and nails first and then the stomach as long as the stomach doesn’t get worse. It’s a bit annoying right now. I’m still guessing gallbladder. They say you can’t take the oral fungus treatments if you have liver or heart problems and the gallbladder sticks off of the liver, I think. So I might have to mention the pain sooner.

Beginning around 2020, I’ve had a bad feeling for September of this year. I just kept trying not to think about it and keep telling myself it’s meaningless, but with my track record, it’s hard to really believe those words. I think it’s something that will affect us as opposed to the whole world. With my shit luck, it’s probably health-related, but could it be us realizing we have to move because I can’t sleep through the storms? I sure hope not!

Well, that didn’t take long. Shannon from Valleyhead sent me a friend request six hours ago. I’m not surprised. I had a feeling she would if she could. Guess she’s living in New Hampshire. She seems like a nice person and she’s aged well too.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 2022 First week of January and I’ve been tired for 3 days of it. One time due to a nightmare. Another time I woke up having to pee and couldn’t fall back asleep. And another time just because. I didn’t even make it to six hours of sleep last time around, so I’m pretty tired. It’s like my sleep is destined to be cursed no matter what. Had problems my whole life so I can’t imagine it ever changing. If it isn’t noise, it’s my bladder. If it isn’t a nightmare, I’m simply tired just because.

Believe it or not though. The increased waiting time after taking my medication does seem to be helping. I seem to have more energy when nothing fucks with my sleep and I’m down a pound or two. My joints are a little more limber as well. I still can’t believe we can ever get my TSH numbers in the single digits without me having off-the-charts anxiety until and if I ever see otherwise.

I heard back from Galileo and I was glad that they asked for pictures of my nails, which I gladly shared. They still look horrible and I wonder if there’s some kind of infection going on and it might not be due to my thyroid at all.

Anyway, I answered a few more questions and gave them more history.

Tom said they had their car parked in the street next door for a while as if they might be painting or doing something in the driveway. Not circular sawing I hope! He didn’t say anything about that, though. They hung clothes out on their back line too.

I decided I still don’t want to accept message requests on FB, but decided I would accept friend requests just to see what the cat may drag in. Nobody can send a message with that, but I’m curious to see what I might get.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 2022 The couple next door filled in the dirt by the pelican and the red and white polka-dotted mushrooms and added what looks like a crane and some other bird. It looks nice. Being so close to us, it’s like they’re decorating for us as well, so I’m glad they didn’t put anything ugly in. The mushrooms are boring but not ugly. I would like to meet them because then I’d feel more comfortable knowing what’s living so close to us but it’s harder to meet people when you’re not out as much. I was out a little more in the other park because it wasn’t humid and I didn’t have this extreme fatigue. I mean, I did, but not this often. Anyway, I hope they’re not outdoors too much and that they stay quiet. Power washing, roofing, and windows are my biggest concern. I don’t see them doing any wild landscaping. Like why would they rip out their grass and have gravel put down or something like that instead? Tom said they have bikes in back and he thought he heard their TV when he was outside but can’t swear to it.

I slept my usual 7 hours and some odd minutes, whereas yesterday I slept almost 10 hours, which may have been part of why I was so tired. It was horrible. I started to feel a blanket of fatigue roll over me earlier but managed to shake it off. Already there are two T’s on the calendar. Six days into the year, and I’ve spent a third of it tired. It’s just before midnight now, but I’m sure I’ll post this just after by the time I get done writing everything and then editing it.

Someone from Galileo replied saying that 14 is still quite high and could be why I’m experiencing these symptoms and my dose could be too low, too.

No shit!

They asked if my dose was adjusted after this reading and I told them about the anxiety I had on a higher dose. I gave them a little back history too and told them about the trouble I had when I first went on 75s and how I had problems the first time I tried 88s. I asked if I should try the 88s again for a few days a week or if they had any other medication they could recommend. I told them about the nail lifting as well.

They also asked me to verify that I had no food or medication allergies. Lastly, they wanted my medical records imported, which was a bitch for us to figure out how to do but I eventually authorized Doctors D, A, and N.

Still have what I hope is just a canker sore on my gum by where my tooth was pulled. It doesn’t hurt or anything, as long as I don’t pick at it.

Despite my memory not being what it used to be, it really is better than most people’s. It frustrates me sometimes how forgetful people can be. I miss Aly, who never seemed to forget a damn thing. She may not have had much of a sense of humor, and she wasn’t always totally honest, but she was very intelligent. At least twice I mentioned having Hashimoto’s to Jessie and yet she asked me if it was Hashimoto’s or if I was simply hypo. I get that when you have a lot going on and there’s more to keep track of, it’s harder to remember things, and I get the brain fog that goes with people our age, but it still gets old always having to remind people of things.

Last night I almost wondered if Andy was high again. I’m sure he would tell me if he slipped up and that he was just tired. He was having insomnia because of drinking coffee too late in his day. It’s just that he was talking a little weirdly. He said he was annoyed by the sound of a circular saw nearby the other day and had to keep reminding himself that it wasn’t fireworks but just a saw.

Now, why would you have to do that? They don’t sound anything alike, so why would you have to remind yourself that a saw wasn’t fireworks?

I suggested getting melatonin or Calms Forte to help with his sleep and he said he happened to have those in his house, what the fuck were they for anyway?

I don’t know the details, but when he visited his brother and sister-in-law in Tampa in 2015, they supposedly said or did some things to him that stole his serenity for one year and two months. That’s what he told me, anyway. Also, he’s been invited to visit again. He doesn’t feel comfortable with the idea and doesn’t want to travel with the virus and all that. I told him he shouldn’t feel obligated to do anything that makes him feel that uncomfortable. But I know how much value people put in biology.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 2022 OK, this is weird. Under People You May Know on Facebook, I noticed Bruce, the realtor who sold us this house, listed as one of the suggestions. The picture looked right and when I pulled up his profile, it confirmed that it was the same Bruce. But I never looked him up anywhere and I never mentioned his full name on Facebook. So how the hell does Facebook know that he was our realtor???

Could he have been suggested to me because he looked in on me? If so, why would he do that? Why would he be that curious much less remember my name? Seriously, is there anything about us that Facebook doesn’t know?

Irma and Dick are here. It was so cool how we could go back and watch our video surveillance and find out when they arrived. They came in at around 3:30, and while we couldn’t see them clearly, the overall size of the couple as they pulled things out of their trunk matched. Plus the fallen blinds are now fixed and there was a light on over there for the first time at night. There’s just enough gap on the side of our blinds and their blinds, and being the same house layout which lines up just right, I could see just enough sliver of light flickering to be able to say they were watching TV. It was lights out at 10:30.

They’re quiet so far and they don’t have a motorcycle and don’t appear to have a dog either. I’m glad nothing bad happened to them after all. I wouldn’t have wanted the place sold to full-timers that might be noisy. I’m just a little surprised they didn’t arrive a couple of months ago and that the people across the street haven’t returned yet.

I just hope they don’t do any loud projects like roofing, replacing windows, or heavy landscaping. Fortunately, most people don’t put much effort into something they only use a few months a year. So unless the roof is leaking or something like that, I don’t think I’ll hear much from them.

On Tuesday, Tom said he could have sworn I heard the landscapers, but they didn’t do this part of the park. Good, because they might have woken me up. Not that I’m not exhausted much of the time anyway, of course.

I decided not to wait any longer so I made a “case” on the medical app. I gave them my thyroid history and told them that I’ve had tachycardia and anxiety on higher doses but that my TSH is high and I’m having a lot of fatigue and struggling with my weight, so I’m hoping for other options. I told them my old PCP recommended a specialist. It’s been three months since I’ve been tested, so I’m sure that’s the first thing they’ll want to do. Not everyone loses weight with normal numbers. This could simply be how I’m meant to be as an older person, and most older people are heavy. But I would really like a chance to find out if this is just the older side of me or just my thyroid talking. I would also really love to have my energy back too!

TUESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2022 Not much to update on, but it’s nice to be able to say that I managed to nab 3 days of energy.

I got a face cream sample to try that’s really good, and we went to CVS. Got a candy bar and some White Merlot. For some reason, this wine tastes so much better in single plastic bottles than it does in a large glass bottle.

We’re having what I think is our third cool spell since we’ve been here, but it’s not as cold as I thought it would get. The AC hardly ran yesterday. I would still prefer AC weather where I’m barefoot and sleeveless as opposed to lows in the upper 40s.

Got a lot of cleaning done and my collectibles have never been more organized than they are now! I recently got these display risers for my small fairy and animal figures. Since I’m changing up what I have on the long dresser every now and then for variety and so I don’t have too much stuff out to dust at once, I placed them in a clear container and then realized hey, what a great display within a display! So that’s one less thing I have to dust. The risers loaded with figures sit in a bin on the shelf in my closet.

I’ll rotate various fashion dolls. I’ll have three different groups. Group one has the 14” and 18” fashion dolls. The second group will consist of Tonners and Playboys. The last group will consist of a couple of porcelain dolls and some animal figures that didn’t fit in any of the displays.

I also sorted their clothes and decided who was going to wear what. Some dolls will wear the same thing all the time, but others will alternate outfits.

We got the medical app on our phones. It’s through United Health and it’s called Galileo. We decided we would wait a couple of weeks before making a case about my thyroid. I’m also going to mention my intermittent stomach pain as well. I think I’m more curious as to what the hell it is than what I can do about it. This way I give it a couple of weeks after increasing my waiting time because we know they’re gonna want to test me right away. I know it takes six weeks for any changes to show up, but this is a start.

So I couldn’t even go a week without my first tired day of the year. It’s no surprise, but at least I know why. A nightmare shorted my sleep by an hour or so. Another one of those purse dreams. What is it with me and the missing purses?

In the dream, Tom and I were at a busy mall. It was very crowded and while he was looking at something else, I suddenly decided I wanted to get my hair trimmed. So I stepped into a corridor that led to a salon. I told the woman I wanted my hair trimmed and we started discussing prices when I realized I should go back and let Tom know where I was so he didn’t wonder what the hell happened to me.

Leaving my purse on the counter of the salon, I walked back into the main area and searched for him but didn’t see him anywhere in the crowd no matter what direction I looked. Remembering that I left my purse in the salon, I turned and ran as fast as I could back to the salon. Naturally, I took a wrong turn in the maze of corridors, and then I quickly turned around. The dream ended with me running down a long curvy hallway, terrified that I would be too late and that my purse would be gone.

Doctor D’s office called and canceled Tom’s appointment, claiming it was a booking error. So we both decided that we were done with her and her incompetent staff. We don’t know if they’re just understaffed or don’t know what the hell they’re doing, but we’ve had it with the glitches and staff that just can’t get their shit together. We’ll take care of our needs through the app. Besides, she’s too far away. Driving that far for the beach or other fun things is one thing, but not worth it for something that’s not the least bit fun. I’ll wait a little longer before I cancel my appointment, though. This actually works out well because I don’t think I can make this appointment. The “booking error” was probably something like the doctor deciding to run off on vacation.

The planes are slowly working their way back to being annoying. Figured they would be back sooner or later.

Another annoying thing is the show I’m watching. Back in the late 80s or early 90s, or whenever it debuted, Andy and I were really into the Unsolved Mysteries series. It was the one I contacted regarding finding Eileen. They have a modern version of it that I’m watching and sure enough, some of the cases are in other countries, which means I have to deal with reading subtitles. I hate watching shows and movies in other languages, even if they’re languages I’ve studied. Sometimes I just get sick of all things foreign. I want to watch shows and not read, otherwise I would pick up a book. I don’t want to have to call fucking India to get help with something. I don’t want another doctor from another country with an accent that’s hard to understand handling my medical needs.

To balance out those annoyances in life, I’m excited about the bead spinner bowl I ordered! Can’t wait to get that Sunday. It should make beading a lot easier. Not sure if I could use it when doing a specific pattern, but I think it would be great for cranking out a bunch of seed bead necklaces and other stuff to possibly put up for sale in my future Etsy store along with diamond paintings.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 2, 2022 My weight definitely wants to go up. I’ve been seeing 163 more often at the end of my day, and I know how it works. Once I see a new high, I’ll be seeing it more and more often until it becomes a regular thing, and then eventually a thing of the past as I continue on up the scale.

We went bike riding again. The weather was gorgeous and breezy. However, I was a bit lightheaded today for a while. Not quite as much energy as yesterday but more than I thought I would have.

He and I got to talking about how hypo I’ve been and the waiting time between taking my meds and having my coffee. He says he swore Doc O told me to wait an hour. So I did a basic Google search and one hour is recommended more than a half-hour. Also, caffeine can interfere with the absorption of the medication so I decided I would start waiting an hour. I’m also going to make sure I don’t take my magnesium until four hours after taking it. Doc A told me not to take vitamin C or calcium before 4 hours, but iron and magnesium also came up on the list of things to wait on.

I don’t think I can ever get back into the single digits on this dose, even with waiting. I think my thyroid really has died off some more. But I may have been adding to my problems without realizing it. I just hope the magnesium can keep working its magic whenever I do manage to get my TSH lower and keep the anxiety away. So I’m gonna drop the plan to take 88s and try waiting an hour on just the 75s for starters. Tomorrow he’ll be able to make some calls and start getting some answers as to when I can see who, where and how. I’m thinking an Endo will want to start off seeing me in person, but I don’t know for sure.

We’ve been getting some apps, but they haven’t been all that impressive. He got a car racing app that sucks. I got a language practice app that is kind of confusing. Plus I got a Cirque du Soleil app that has about a half dozen acts. I’ve always loved them, but this isn’t very impressive for Cirque du Soleil. It’s just OK.

For what was at least the third time since we’ve been here, an ambulance showed up at the house next to Toni’s. Because there were two cop cars and other vehicles, including golf carts in the area, we thought maybe someone died. I stepped out at one point and asked the officers if everything was OK and they said it was all good. Did “all good” mean that it was all good in that there was nothing dangerous going on in the hood or that it was all good because no one died?

I couldn’t help but notice how young the cops looked, which is a reminder that I’m getting up there in age. LOL, I swear they looked more like boys than men. The type one could picture at a party getting drunk and acting all immature and silly.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 1, 2022 Oh no. Please don’t tell me we’re gonna have to listen to fireworks all night tonight too, and who knows how many more nights after this. It started last night at about 6:00 o’clock and went on until about 1:00 in the morning. I was surprised. I didn’t think there would be that many in a place with fewer people. It still wasn’t as bad as the old place, though. I’m just so glad we’re not next to Linda two houses down and the one next to her! They always have a lot of company. Last night was no exception. Plus they were blasting music.

The truck planted across the street to make it look like someone’s home is still there, but it turns out that the grey SUV doesn’t belong to the couple next door, who are Irma and Dick from what I learned from the phone book. You’re not supposed to park on the street overnight here, so it’s someone who knows no one’s there who’s been parking there from time to time. Tom played back our video camera feed and he saw a guy walk up to it, get in, and drive away at about 9:30.

Anyway, I found Irma’s account on Facebook. She and her husband live in Ontario. She looks to be in her late 60s and he looks to be in his early 70s. The last post that I could find was in September, so if anything bad happened to them, it happened after that. I still wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if they sold the place and it got bought by noisy full-timers. That’s just my kind of shit luck.

Went bike riding earlier. It’s gorgeous out there! Bike riding here is so much easier without the speed bumps and the steep hills. Doubt there’s even a 5-foot difference in height around this park, whereas in the other one, you had a 30-foot difference easily.

Saturday is our “play” day where we don’t do any work around the house. He’s having fun handicapping now.

Took my nail polish off. They all look the same still…lifted. Now that our new insurance plan is activated, we downloaded the app that lets us message doctors and request refills and all that stuff. Hopefully, I can start getting some answers and some help with my thyroid but I’m not very hopeful at the moment.

I’m just sick of this bipolar energy! I’m fine today, but yesterday sucked because I was too tired to do much of anything. I did ask Andy if he’s experiencing the same problem now that he’s older and he said that he hasn’t had good energy since his 40s, though every now and then he gets a burst of it. He says that lack of energy is common with people our age.

I don’t know about that, though. That’s what I’ve heard and my energy certainly started dwindling in my 40s as well. However, Tom has no problem, and medical sites say that sleep disturbances, waking up tired, and regular fatigue are not a part of aging.

Jessie definitely has it worse. Her celiac taught her body to attack other parts of it, and that’s why her thyroid and intestines have been under attack. It literally nibbles away at her liver and her enzymes are constantly high.

I’ve had those annoying and somewhat scary heart bubbles every now and then, too. They seem to have picked up, and I wonder if that’s connected to my thyroid as well. Low thyroid sure causes all kinds of problems. Another thing I sometimes get is a cramp along my upper back and neck. We still don’t think it’s my heart, though, because the symptoms aren’t persistent. That’s another thing I don’t get. If the fatigue is because of my thyroid, then why is it not every day? Thyroid levels don’t fluctuate that much.

Got an update from Margaret. Apparently, Dixie’s been trying to contact her. They keep missing each other, but Margaret has heard from her son. Dixie was in the hospital for 10 days with bladder issues. She’s also got the shingles. Most importantly, Diane is still with a couple in Auburn.

Made homemade soup for the first time ever. Cheesy broccoli soup. I made it in the cooker. However, the Velveeta cheese I used for it is pretty salty. So it’s not the greatest but it’s edible.

The next soup I make is going to be chicken noodle soup.

I beat my book count by 10 books. Last year I read 75 books and this year I read 85. Some of them were short stories.

Mia’s starting off the New Year at level 58 and 115K XP.

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daveinediting · 2 years ago

Photo

I'm gonna take a quick detour here from dysfunctional workplaces because two things:

One.

I've begun this series of posts in the workplace.

Two.

My own professional story doesn't actually begin in the workplace.

And three.

We were at a concert last night that slapped me in the face about something I already know.

Okay three things.

And the something I already know... is what Charlie Kester, director of the Music & Video Business Program at the Art Institute of Seattle, would not shut up about.

Seriously. He would not. Shut up.

About networking.

He was relentless about this particular lesson and we, as dutiful students, made various sounds of agreement even though the whole thing sounded phony and fake when it came to our prospective relationships within our industries.

Eventually, though, I got it.

And then last night’s concert really tweaked my understanding.

For example, what was the point of me going to college? For sure I didn't have an informed answer neither when I applied nor when I went. It turns out, though, the point was to impress the right person with connections to the real world.

That would be my advertising campaigns professor, Larry Bowen, by the way, who hooked me up with UW Video that, at the time, was called Instructional Media Services through which nearly all of my professional opportunities arose through the various producers who worked there over the years.

Okay fine. So then what was the point of going to the Art Institute?

Well... it sure seemed like what I should do once I realized the advertising industry was not gonna be a thing for me. In reality, though, the point was to impress one person: my guidance counselor. A woman named Elaine who set me up with specific jobs including the one I had at KOMO TV for five years. Interestingly, the production supervisors at both KOMO and UW Video knew each other because they used to work together which totally worked out for me because I had the one at UW listed as a references when I applied at KOMO.

Yup. Networking. Less, in this case, about what I did as much as it's about the mechanism by which I succeeded without any sort of understanding.

Which brings me to last night's concert in which the lead singers of two of the three bands taking the stage once performed in a band in which our daughter's currently a member. Both lead singers subsequently offered her gigs with their bands after working with her.

The bass player of the band she's in is also in one of these bands plus, when Linzy put a band together for a New Year's Eve gig last year, he was her first call.

The lead singer of the third band along with the lead singer of one of the other bands were also singers in another band earlier this year whose leader was at last night's gig as well. That band leader recently offered Linzy the opportunity to collaborate on an upcoming album.

Okay so I talked about Linzy and these other vocalists performing with this other band earlier this year. Well, Linzy sang with that band last year, too, and the solo artist who opened for that show was also at last night's show that included a few moments for the two of them to catch up a little.

Finally, Linzy has a non-acoustic brand she's trying to launch, one that's perfectly doable in the studio given the layers of sound and music involved.

Live, though?

She hasn't figured that out yet. She hasn't determined the audience experience of a show taking place under that brand. The first performer last night, though, has crafted a performance sort of in the ballpark of what she's considering and the performer’s not only offered to work with her on her own brand’s live performance... but also offered her a slot at an upcoming show in June. Her very first performance under the brand she dreamed up.

Yeah, so...

Networking.

Once upon a time, the director at our school wouldn't shut up about it.

At the time, we humored him.

But.

Yeah.

He was right.

Because all these connections at last night’s show?

Nearly all were formed because of the college our daughter chose.

And yeah.

She impressed the right people.

😊

#career #work #job #profession #connections #networking #impressing #success #opportunities

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pandaexpress303 · 2 years ago

Text

episode 4 thoughts

okay, here we go. again, I really don’t even remember enough from the shadow and bone trilogy to really know how I feel about how adapting it. but poor genya :( anyway, the crows. this is sooooo interesting how they are literally taking the events at the end of crooked kingdom and readapting them to fit in with this storyline. I actually think it kind of works, but I still have some complaints and concerns. I think that having them do the whole scheme with the firepox was fine and it doesn’t really matter that it happens when it does in the books. I think it also lends itself well to telling Kaz’s backstory so I was fine with that. and I loved how they showed that kaz was one step ahead the whole time, but as an audience member you don’t realize it at first because that happened all the time in the books! but the fact that we got the confrontation scene with Pekka this early on is a little weird since that scene is something that the duology builds up to and Kaz’s lack of vengeance on Pekka is fueling him throughout most of the story. I also didn’t like that kaz said all that in front of Pekka’s whole gang and Jesper and Nina, but inej was not there. in the books the only one he would ever trust to say that in front of is inej! idk that just bothered me and felt a little OOC. I will say Freddy’s acting was incredible and they captured the essence of that scene really well. also the part where kaz says “yes to all of that” after Jesper said all that stuff felt soooo OOC for kaz. book kaz would not have admitted that. also they REALLY changed the Wylan and Jesper story. what about Jesper kissing kuwei? and in this it’s implied that they had a one night stand before which definitely did not happen in the books. okay and now onto kanej aka the main thing I care about. idk how I feel about that scene at the beginning where kaz tells inej if things go wrong she needs to leave. I feel like it so heavily implies that he cares about her well-being and while he does say this in the books, it is after she has doubted that he sees her as anything other than an investment. with kaz saying this to her I think it makes it clear too early on that he cares about her and I wanted that tension and slow burn that builds up to the “I would come for you” speech. also it felt OOC that kaz said he would feel comforted knowing she was there in the shadows. I feel like the line itself felt out of place and idk it was just weird. but I think the point of it was to show how she had promised kaz she would be there for him and then she actually wasn’t, contributing to the angst they just set up between them. I am here for the angst but it’s interesting that he set her free. and that line about the indentures having a wraith now. is that implying that kaz is bitter that she chose the indentures over him? in the books he is more supportive of this decision of hers. idk, it’s an interesting way to show kaz’s conflictedness when it comes to Inej’s freedom. it’s also interesting that now inej is free from her contract and six of crows hasn’t even begun. my favorite part of the episode was kaz talking about how concerned he was when he didn’t know where inej was. just......awww. anyway, I had a lot of thoughts. I'm excited to see what happens in the next episodes, hoping for some good angst that is later resolved between kaz and inej and sooo interested to see what that knife scene is. also in the little image I've seen on Netflix, the two of them look sooo close and I'm guessing that is the dream sequence people have been predicting is going to happen. are we gonna see them kiss? idk how I feel about that.

#shadow and bone #shadow and bone netflix #shadow and bone season 2 #shadow and bone spoilers #six of crows #crooked kingdom #Kaz Brekker #inej ghafa #kanej

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phireads · 1 year ago

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Ugh okay.

So I love Mary Bennet. She’s actually my favourite Bennet sister. Not because she’s a good person. She’s not a good person, and that’s a textually evident fact. I like her in the same way I like pre-redemption Emma Woodhouse - because she is compelling. She reminds me quite a bit of Edith Crawley from Downton Abbey. She’s the least desired and most homely of her sisters so she becomes spiteful, judgemental and guarded. I like to think that, had we followed Mary for a few more years, she would have learned from her prejudices (no pun intended) a little and begun to stop judging people so much (à la Emma and Edith). Again, that’s only something which I like to think. It’s not supported by the book and I wouldn’t claim that it was. A book comprised of only headstrong and witty Elizabeth Bennets and, kind and sensible Jane Bennets would be, in my opinion, boring. Mary feels like one of the most realistic characters in the novel, and one who translates well across the centuries too (who hasn’t met a holier-than-thou bookish woman who shuns femininity and others?).

I feel comfortable in expressing those opinions because I know users like @bethanydelleman will respect them and that if they want to open up a dialogue on them, they will do so respectfully. I was quite literally astonished when I saw this post because why on earth would anyone think it was okay to be this venomous over an opinion??? Isn’t this why we’re all here - to express our opinions about the literature we love and have them be discussed by our friends and mutuals? It’s not even as though Bethany (I hope she doesn’t mind me first-name-ing her for ease) is posting reams of baseless opinions on Jane Austen novels (and even then, that still wouldn’t be reason enough to drop a message like that in her askbox). She very clearly does an incredible amount of meticulous research for each post she makes and each piece of work she writes. If I want to fact-check anything Austen, I almost always go to her blog. I honestly don’t know how she finds the time to do it all.

I also find it beyond ironic that anon accuses Bethany of bringing down other girls, as if that’s not essentially what they’re doing too??? Firstly, Mary Bennet is fictional. She cannot care what people say or think about her because she doesn’t exist. Secondly, most of the criticisms of Mary that I’ve seen from Bethany have actually been qualms about how Mary is one of the least feminist characters in the novel. How she’s always trying to moralise to the other girls and discredit their dreams. Thirdly, Bethany, unlike Mary Bennet, is a real human being, who is putting out her thoughts and opinions for everyone to read and enjoy. If you want to talk about “shitting on others”, maybe reflect on what you’ve just said. It’s not very feminist to police others’ opinions (or how they tag them - another thing which is completely up to the poster) or call someone’s thoughts (which are insightful and totally harmless thoughts) “drivel”.

TL:DR: Let us be negative about fictional characters so that we may always be positive and kind towards each other.

What the hell is your problem with Mary Bennet?

For someone who hates her so much, you sure stay parked out in her tag all the time. Why not spend your time loving your Better-Than-Mary-girlbosses, instead of writing drivel on Mary all the time?

Seriously, you know you can like Fanny Price without shitting on other girls? Especially one who isn't even in the same novel as Fanny. It's common sense.

Fanny won't become magically popular by your attempts to demean Mary.

But if, as I suspect, you are still going to mindlessly hate on Mary, at least tag your nonsense properly.

Don't poison the Mary Bennet tag with negativity.

1. If my posts are high in the Mary Bennet tag, it's because other people agree with what I wrote.

2. I have written nothing about Mary Bennet that is not supported by the text of Pride & Prejudice. Therefore, not mindless.

3. I don't hate her. However, she's objectivily not a very nice person so if you use quotes to describe her character, she won't come out well.

4. I compare all six novels and characters within all six novels all the fucking time. That's what I do here. That is the point of this here blog. If this annoys you so much, you have a block button.

5. I do tag my posts properly. My posts about Mary Bennet are about Mary Bennet.

6. If you want to make Mary Bennet your blorbo, maybe just embrace her flaws? That's what I do with my girl Mary Crawford, who is mercenary and totally hoped her boyfriend's brother would die so they could be rich. She also doesn't listen when Fanny talks about the wonder of memory. And yet, I love her anyway.

#reblog #books #classic lit #pride and prejudice #jane austen #u: bethanydelleman #discourse

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erodasfishtacos · 3 years ago

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how about when they first noticed ezra was a nervous and anxious baby ?

Seperation

prompt: the moment when h and yn decide that Ezra needs to see a therapist.

warnings: angst

if you like the fic - please reblog, like, comment, or come talk to me in my inbox!

I write for free so if you enjoy my fics please consider donating to support my writing on my kofi.

enjoy 😊

—

It’s late at night, like 3 in the morning, and Harry was down in Atlanta for three games with the Braves.

Easton and Cash had long adjusted to their father being away for short spurts of time - doesn’t mean they don’t miss him but they know he’ll come back to them.

Ezra was another story.

YN felt dread anytime he went away for a game because her youngest got so anxious and had trouble sleeping.

He was usually okay during the day (Harry was gone for practice and obligations during most mornings and afternoons).

It was at night time.

She really didn’t want to call and bother her husband because he had just played a game that went into three innings of overtime and had gotten a gnarly bruise on his thigh from a ball hitting him as he batted.

When they’d FaceTimed after the game, about eight, he had been so exhausted in his hotel room that his eyes were nearly closing as he spoke to her.

Now at three, three in the morning, Ezra still hasn’t went to bed because of how fussy and tearful he was - babbling about his father.

“Daddy, daddy, daddy,” He was whining into his mother’s neck, his hot tears rolling down his cheeks and onto her skin.

“Ezzie, baby. We have to calm down. Mama’s here and daddy is okay, he’s just working,” She murmured to him for the hundredth time that night.

YN was sat in the den with him because she didn’t want him waking up his brothers or his little sister who just begun to sleep through the night for the most part.

At one point, she did stir for a night feeding, and as YN sat on her bed - Briar latched sleepily, Ezra was nestled tightly into her other side.

When it hit three-thirty, she began to feel herself get frustrated because she couldn’t fix the situation - no matter what she did.

She knew once tears began rolling down her own cheeks that she had to call Harry.

It was never that she was worried he would be mad that she called, she just felt guilty because he had worked so hard already that day.

YN reaches for her phone, taking a deep inhale before pressing his contact for facetime.

It rings three times before it’s picked up, completely dark in his room, and he rasps out drowsily, “Wha’s going on, mama? Y’alright? The babies alright?”

“I-I can’t get him to settle,” YN takes a deep breath, the sleep deprivation making her want to just break down and sob.

“Daddy? Daddy, daddy, daddy,” Ezra just chants, eyes wide on the screen, searching for his father to just appear but all he sees is darkness.

That causes him to just start bawling his eyes out when he can’t will his father onto the phone like he wants.

“Whoa, Ezzie. Sweet boy, c’mon. Y’gotta breathe s’daddy can understand you,” Harry coos, stirring to turn on the light and illuminate his pillow-creased face.

“Daddy!” His voice is shrill, high-pitched and it makes YN’s ears ring.

“Ezra Duke,” Harry says a little more firmly, “Daddy can’t understand you when you scream, okay?”

The little boy sniffles and tries to catch his breath, leaning into where YN is rubbing soothing circles into his back.

“Miss you,” His son whimpers sadly, bringing his voice down a notch, “Come home, please.”

“I am flying’ home tomorrow, bab. Daddy will be home around noon but you have to be good for mama,” He says, voice still smooth and calm.

“Now!” Ezra screams in a way he usually never does and then continues, “Now! Now daddy! Now!”

Both parents are taking aback, Harry with wide eyes and parted lips as he watching his son through his phone and YN just squeezes her eyes shut, exhaling out of her mouth.

“Mama, breathe,” Harry directs towards her, can tell how overwhelmed she is getting from all the chaos of his screaming.

“Daddy, daddy,” Ezra blubbers, green eyes angry and anxious at the same time, “Please, home!”

YN hears noise from behind her, to see her eight year old padding into the room with his unruly curls poking every which way.

“Mama, is Ezzie okay?” Easton wonders, knuckling his eyes sleepily and then Cash follows right behind him in his dinosaur pajamas.

“Fuck, he woke up the boys,” YN informs Harry tearfully, “I just…I don’t know what to do. I can’t do anything to make him feel better.”

The older boys peek into the screen to smile at their dad and Harry gives them a tense smile, “Hi boys, I know Ez is being loud but can y’two be good f’your mama and go back to bed?”

They agree, giving their upset brother a kiss and then their mom before talking quietly to each other as they walk up the stairs.

“Daddy? Home, please! Hold me!” Ezra wails, clinging to his mother’s neck tightly enough to hurt as he tantrums.

“This is the worst it’s ever been, he’s normally stopped before I’ve had to call you,” YN groans, rocking him swiftly against her for lack of a better idea.

“Wait…” Harry sits up, scrubbing a hand over his puffy face, “Has this been happening’ every time m’away?”

“It just started two to three months ago but he’s always been able to be calmed down within an hour or so,” YN replies, shushing Ezra as he babbles over and over again daddy, daddy, daddy.

Harry’s jaw tightens and his frown settles into a deep crease, “Well why a’ve you not told me that m’baby has been cryin’ for me when I’m gone? Do y’not think that’s important?”

YN recognizes his irritation and is running on less than five hours of sleep over two days and may he’s it back with an even sharper tone.

“We can’t change that you’re gone. I’m trying to handle it, Harry.”

“Y’not doin’ a bloody good job at it!” Harry bites back in frustration, heart pounding in desperation as he hears his son cry for him.

“Daddy, daddy, come on.”

Then YN looks at him with watering, hurt eyes, “I’m doing my best. You’re not here, I can’t make you appear. I’m trying to calm him down without having to wake you up.”

And Harry shouldn’t but he’s angry and misses his babies - all of them but especially the one who needs him the most right now.

“Y’dont think I deserve to know tha’ Ezra’s been acting like this?” Harry snaps before adding, “In this situation, y’best isn’t good enough because he’s still crying and y’still haven’t been able to settle him.”

And wow, those words hit her like a ton of bricks. It was instilling all the insecurities that she had bubbling in her chest.

In this situation, y’best isn’t good enough because he’s still crying and y’still haven’t been able to settle him.

Harry automatically knows that he spoke before he thought and he let his stressed out mind say untrue hurtful things.

He part his lips about to speak before YN cuts him off.

“If you can do it so much better than me, fucking good you. Then come home and fix this because I give up,” YN laughs without humor, finger finding the red button to hang out and disconnecting.

Harry tried calling back over and over and over but YN just hangs her head, sniffling, as she watches her tired, anxious little son finally drift off to sleep.

At some point, her phone stops ringing when he’s given up and it doesn’t ring again until for another thirty minutes.

She knew he was going to keep calling until she picked up - had been that way since they first started dating.

By now, Ezra was asleep in his room and YN was sat against their headboard - having tossed the tear soaked shirt she had on off and was feeding Briar once more.

The millionth facetime request comes through and finally she swipes to answer, he’s furious right as they connect, “D’you have any idea how worried I am? Y’cant ju-“

He stops himself when he sees his baby girl pop her head from her mother’s breast with puffy lips and look at the screen, “Dadadadada.”

“Oh, hi lil’ mama,” Harry changes his tone completely, face softening - “Did I interrupt y’eatin’? S’mama being so nice and feeding you?”

Briar just smiles with a gapped baby tooth smile, a dimple pushing into her left cheek as she does so.

“Guess I’m good for one thing, right? A fucking milk-maker,” YN scoffs at her husband’s opposite tone as she guides Briar gently back down to finish her meal.

Harry frowns, “Y’know tha’s not anything near the truth and tha’ I think you’re the best mama to our babies. M’just upset.”

“You told me my best wasn’t good enough, I can’t believe you would say something like tha’ to me,” YN begins to sniffle again.

“Sweetheart, m’sorry. I ju-“

“What did you call for, Harry? It’s nearly four-thirty in the morning and I haven’t slept for nearly two days now. I want to feed her and go to sleep,” YN’s voice is disconnected and exhausted.

“To talk, I didn’t say how I was feeling correctly-“

“When you come home tomorrow you can fix everything and I’ll let you because I’m not doing a good enough job,” His wife cuts him off again.

Harry starts to feel a ball of worry form in his throat as he hears how unemotional and distance his wife sounds with him.

He had totally said the wrong things as his wife was just trying to do her best at balancing four babies while he was away.

“Please, let me apologize-“

“I would like to go to sleep. Please don’t call back,” YN responds before ending the phone call and leaving the screen dark.

They rarely ever fought. Especially like this.

He’s man enough to admit that he cries after he tries calling back (even though she said not to) and it went straight to voicemail.

He tries facetiming in the morning, at around nine right before if flight takes off - surprised when it actually was picked up.

Harry only sees YN for a brief moment before she’s propping up the camera on the kitchen table so that Easton and Cash are in view eating pancakes and Briar is in her high chair with blueberries staining her chubby cheeks.

Ezra must still be in bed.

“Hi bubbies,” Harry greets with a smile as they’re curls shake as they look up with excited smiles.

“Daddy! You comin’ home?” Cash squeaks excitedly through a mouthful of food.

“Hi dad!” Easton chimes in, waving.

Briar is only half-interested, more taken by the fact that if she squishes the berries between her fingers they turn mushy, babbles out a, “Daddadaa.”

“I’ll be home in like three hours, ‘kay” Harry informs them - his heart aches to be there right now with theme

“Ezzie cried all night,” Cash let’s his father know.

“Mama cried too,” Easton whispers, like it’s a secret that he doesn’t want her to hear, “I think she is really sad.”

Harry squeezes his eyes shut for a minute, “I know. Ezzie was sad last night. Can I talk to mama?”

Easton looks to his mother off camera as she must say something to him to repeat to Harry, “Mama said that she is busy and she’ll see you when you get home.”

He clenches his fist off camera, trying to smile but he knows it’s terse as he says, “Alright, I love you all. See y’when I get home.”

Meanwhile, YN gets all the children settled after breakfast.

Easton, Cash, and Ezra in the backyard - the two older ones digging holes for bugs and the younger playing in the sandbox.

Briar was snoozing in the cradle of YN’s elbow as she sat on a chaise - watching the kids.

She hits the number she was looking for, waiting for it to ring, and then she hears, “Hillside Pediatrics, this is Jess.”

The office knew the family well because Harry is Harry Styles and they have four children who visit there.

YN inquires about therapeutic options for him, resources, and if they had any recommendations for where to take him.

Like the super mom she is, she manages to set up an intake appointment that evening (which was a miracle on its own), call Anne and ask to watch the other children, and then take a deep breathe.

Harry steps through the back door, dressed in his usual Yankees hoodie, Nike shorts, and trainers looking tanner than before.

“Hi bubbies!” He greets, basking in when all of his children look up and squeal excitedly at the sight of their father.

Easton and Cash are the fastest, racing to cling to each legs and nuzzle into his thigh with a tight hug.

Ezra is slower, by the time he’s arrived to his father - there was no room for him to shuffle in and he automatically lets out an earth-shattering wail.

Just like before.

“Daddy! Hold me! Daddy, hold me please!” His youngest son begs desperately, stretching up his arms, and letting hot tears stream down his cheeks.

Harry tuts, reaching for him and popping him on his hip but Ezra has other ideas - scrambling until his nose is pressed into the curve of Harry’s neck with his arms wrapped tightly around him.

“Ezzie, c’mon now,” Harry titters softly, reaching down to give both of his other boys a kiss on the head before they dart back off to play.

“Daddy, miss you,” Ezra blubbers sadly, Harry wincing when his son yanks a bit in his longer curls by the nape of his neck.

“Y’okay, daddy’s got you. Relax, breathe bubba,” His father reassured him, swaying softly back and forth until he’s just sniffing.

“We have an appointment with a children’s play therapist for him later at five,” YN tells him, shushing Briar who’s squeaking from the noise.

Harry takes a deep inhale, “Okay, that sounds like a good idea. Can we talk now since y’been ignoring my calls?”

YN bristles at the attitude in his tone, “Excuse me if I’d rather not be critiqued on my skills as a mother when I am sleep-deprived and stressed out.”

He clenches his jaw, speaking lowly with firmness, “Y’bein’ absurd! I didn’t critique to you, y’blowing things out of proportion! Y’the one who didn’t tell me this was going on!”

“It didn’t get that bad until last night! I could handle it - he would just be upset for a little before bed but he’d never got that anxious before,” She justifies, returning the glare he’s giving her.

“Didn’t think y’could mentioned it to me? I have a right to know, he’s m’baby too. I could have fix this yet you were letting him suffer,” Harry bites out but know as soon as it’s out of his mouth that he wishes he could swallow the words back down.

You were letting him suffer.

YN doesn’t even argue back, just starts bawling because of how hurtful those words were and how could he even say that?

“Mama, fuck- I didn’t, I’m just-“

His wife gets up without a word, using Briar’s blanket to wipe at her wet cheeks, and vanishing through the sliding back doors.

Ezra was snoozing peacefully on him and he couldn’t leave the boys outside alone so he resorts to sitting down on one of the outdoor couches and curse internally.

He couldn’t believe he was being so cruel. He just felt so….betrayed that she hadn’t told him what had been going on and he felt like he was letting down Ezra.

It was a nasty feeling of guilt in the pit of his stomach because he was away so much from his family and it was stressful for everyone.

He wanted to cry at the idea of his son crying for him every night.

Harry starts to get anxious when YN isolates herself in their bedroom with Briar for the next upcoming hours.

He knocks softly, opening the door to YN turned on her side away from him, under the covers, with Briar asleep in her bassinet asleep.

“Mama? Y’awake?” Harry murmurs cautiously with a sandwich and chips since she’d disappeared and hadn’t been down once, water in the other hand.

“Are the boys okay?” YN asks quietly, not bothering to turn over to face him.

“Yes, babies are fine. They’re watchin’ Toy Story right now, eatin’ lunch,” Harry replies, eyes falling in his beautiful little daughter.

“If the boys are fine then I don’t want you in here,” YN tells him with an angry tone but low enough that it won’t disturb Briar.

Harry nearly whimpers.

“Baby, please. We need to talk-“

“If the boys are fine, I want you to leave me alone.”

Harry hesitates by the door, feeling helpless as he slips the plate onto the dresser in case she is hungry but he doubts she’ll touch it.

“Alright, I’ll leave y’be. Call me if y’need anythin’ or help with Briar,” He offers, trying to buy time in the room.

She laughs sarcastically, “Yeah, I’ll make sure you’re notified because I can’t do a good enough job myself.”

Harry sighs, running a hand through his hair, trying to conjure up the perfect words to fix this situation but it’s interrupted.

“Daddy? Daddy? Where? Hold me!” Ezra screeches as Easton stands outside the door with him, holding his hand.

“Dad, he won’t stop,” The oldest complains with annoyance as Ezra scurries to his father and up into his arms.

“Daddy daddy,” He chants into his father’s skin with relief.

“Thank y’East, Ezzie’s been sad lately. Huh?” Harry replies, thumbing at Easton’s cheek.

The oldest shrugs, “Not always. Mama cheers him up all the time with kisses and hugs.”

Harry gazes back to the lump under the blankets and feels himself getting choked up. He really really regretted his words.

He didn’t regret being upset with her. He regrets the cheap shots he took at his wife who’s just trying to be a full time mom to his babies.

“Mama?” Ezra squeaks at the word, realizing he hasn’t seen her recently and then he’s back to tantruming, “Mama, mama, mama. Where’s mama?”

“M’right here, Ez,” YN murmurs, flipping to her other side so that her youngest could see her. His face lights up and he scurries to the bed, scampering up until his mom is tucking him under the blankets with her.

Harry’s heart aches when Ezra whimpers quietly and burrows into her warm chest with happiness that he found his mother.

“Y’got him?” Harry asks, hand raking through Easton’s curls as he leans into his father’s side.

“Can we go play now, dad?” Easton asks impatiently, tugging his father out of the room and down the staircase.

Anne shows up and the two older ones are so excited, bouncing up and down as they tug her into the backyard to show her the holes they dug with Briar popped on her hip - gnawing on her shirt collar.

YN brings Ezra down the stairs, curls tamed with a bit styling mousse and a little adias x disney outfit that was the cutest thing ever. ***

Harry reaches out to take Ezra off YN but he whines and shakes his head, clinging to his mother like it was life or death.

“No daddy! Mama!” Ezra pouts angrily, glaring at his father with protectiveness.

He puts his hands up, “Okay, okay. Y’can stay with y’mama.”

The car ride is silent, Harry doesn’t know what to say and YN isn’t giving him anything to work with. He feels like he’ll just say the wrong thing again.

When they pull up to the building and Harry puts it in park, he’s startled when his wife just starts bawling into her hands.

Harry freezes for a second with wide eyes before rumbling, “Mama, sweetheart. Please don’t cry, it breaks m’heart, darlin’.”

“I’m…I’m no-not a good mom,” YN cries, “I wanted to tell you but I was scared. I don’t want you to think I can’t handle raising our babies.”

Harry pries her hands away from her face, cupping her cheeks and firmly staring, full conviction in his voice, “If I didn’t think y’could handle four babies then I wouldn’t have put them in you. I wouldn’t talk about putting more in you.”

YN’s eyes are watering, letting Harry swipe the tears away with his thumbs as she inhales deeply, “I am so so sorry I didn’t tell you. I don’t want you to worry when you’re away.”

Harry leans forward, kissing her harshly before whispering against her lips, “I don’t give a fuck about baseball in comparison to you and the kids. I’d give it up this second if y’asked. I want to worry because you’re the love of m’life and I’m y’husband - I’m here to support you and support our family.”

He continues, “I am a bit frustrated with you. I want you to tell me everything I miss when I’m gone even if it stresses me out or upsets me. Okay? But I shouldn’t have said hurtful things. You’re the best mama on this planet and y’treat our babies the best.”

YN nods, willing herself to stop crying as their appointment starts in ten minutes as she takes steady breathes.

“I forgive you. I’m sorry I let my pride get in the way. I just…I feel like you do everything for us and the least I could do is manage the kids,” She sighs with self-deprecation.

“Mama, just because one of our bubs needs therapy doesn’t mean you’re not doing a perfect job. We’ve always know Ezzie was an anxious baby. This is going to be good for him and for us, right?” He encourages, nosing at her cheek before she offers up her lips once more for a short kiss.

“I love you,” YN tells him, running a thumb of a light dusting of stubble on his jawline.

“Love y’more than anything,” He replies instantly.

Ezra is nervous as they step into the calming, peaceful office where there are neatly organized buckets of toys and shelves of books.

Patricia was a middle-aged woman with a kind smile who welcomed them in, she observed how Ezra had himself wrapped around his dad with hesitant green eyes peeking at her.

As they sit down, Patricia says softly, “This must be Ezra?”

They all wait for a moment before the toddler turns around to look at the woman and says timidly, “m’Ezzie.”

“Hi Ezzie,” The therapist greets and he gives her a cautious smile before nuzzling back into his father’s neck.

The discuss what has been going on. How Ezra has always been very nervous, anxious, cautious in a way that none of his other siblings are.

How he struggles when one of his parents is away from him, how he can get upset if he can’t find one of his siblings, or how much he worries about things most kids his age don’t worry about.

Patricia does an excellent job in calming down the parents, assuring them that it was nothing out of the norm, and that therapy would be beneficial for him.

She states that they’ll work a lot of feelings - being able to describe and recognize them. That will be one of the most important things.

Also working on his ability to calm down and cope with stressful situations, recommending once a week which of course his parents agreed to.

By the end of the intake, Ezra had ventured to take one of the baby dolls from a bin and bring it back to his father.

“Look daddy, s’a baby,” He lisps proudly, holding it up to show him.

“Good job, bubs,” Harry laughs, leaning to kiss his forehead - watching him toddle off to find more dolls to play with.

That night, after all the kids go to bed, and YN is finishing her final feeding with Briar in her nursery before putting in her crib.

Harry runs a nice, steaming bath with lavender bubbles and a candle burning with the lights dimmed low.

When she finds him, he slowly undresses her with warm kisses and praises of how good of a wife and mother she is.

They lay in there together, YN between his legs with her head rested on his chest, as his hands massage at her tummy and hips lovingly.

And yeah, everything is okay after that.

They get up the next day and everything is back to normal except now Ezra goes to therapy once a week with his parents.

(Ezra ends up working with Patricia until he’s in about sixth grade.)

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fortuositywritings · 3 years ago

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Part 1 Wanda x Reader

Summary: You bump into Wanda Maximoff at a grocery store. Wouldn’t be a problem if either of you were anyone else but you two were no ordinary people.

You would think having the ability to take anyone’s power would be awesome. It’s not.

With a simple touch, you could take any person with special abilities’ special powers from them. You figured this out in grade school when you high-fived one of your friends for the first time. Suddenly you could see through walls. That same year, you figured out they could take those powers back.

A few years later you found out they could only take those powers back if they wanted them. You tried giving someone their invisibility back but they would not have it. Now you are stuck with it. You are stuck with a few others too, like walking through walls and mimicking voices. Those you got from random strangers on the street.

Obviously, you tried to give them back. You wouldn’t take what isn’t yours, but it was an impossible task. Finding a stranger you bumped into in New York is kind of hard.

You’ve tried passing off powers to other people but it never worked. You could only return them to the person who gave them to you. To give them back, all you had to do was touch them again and they had to want the powers back. It was that simple.

So when you bump into Wanda Maximoff at the grocery store, things get a little complicated.

You’ve made a friend recently who turns out to be Sokovian. Seeing as his birthday is coming up, you thought it would be cool to cook him a traditional Sokovian meal. A few searches on Google and you print out a list of what you need.

You leave to the nearest store that would have all you need. You check off your list, heading toward the aisle of spices. You finally find the one the recipe calls for and lucky for you, it’s the last one. You reach for it but you feel someone else’s hand touching yours, reaching for the same thing.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she says. You look at the woman who is standing really close to you for a stranger. She has intense green eyes, you notice. She pulls her hand away.

“It’s alright,” you say.

“Was that the last one?” she asks, awkwardly.

“It seems so,” you confirm. “But we can ask an employee if they have more somewhere?”

You flag down an employee two aisles down and ask. They shake their head and then tell you they won’t be getting more until next week. The woman with the green eyes sighs.

“We can split it,” you suggest. “I don’t need the whole thing. At least I don’t think so? I just need it to make a Sokovian dish that calls for it. I probably won’t be using it for anything else.”

“I don’t know. Sokovian food is delicious if I may say so. You’ll get a taste and might regret sharing this with a stranger,” she teases.

You smile and ask, “Oh, are you Sokovian?”

She nods and you add, “Well, then I insist on sharing it with you. Maybe you can actually give me a few tips on this recipe?”

“What are you making?” she asks you. You show her the recipe on your phone and she kindly shares some of her expertise which you’re grateful for. She follows you around the store making conversation as you grab the rest of what you need. Technically, you follow her around as she suggests you other stuff to add to the recipe.

You add a mini mason jar to your cart. You both head to pay and outside pour some of the spice into your mason jar and give her the rest of the bottle. You thank her for all the help and wish her a great day.

Wanda gets back to the tower in a positive mood. Everyone notices and asks her what happened. She replies that she just had a nice interaction with a stranger and it made her day.

Though her day was made, the rest of her week was hell. She doesn’t know what is wrong with her. Her powers have been failing her. She doesn’t understand. At first she thinks it’s just the more difficult things she can’t do but then she notices how no one’s thoughts appear in her head. It’s quiet. She only hears her own.

Something was definitely wrong.

You thought you were imagining things but after guessing what your friends’ were thinking for the umpteenth time, you knew you had taken someone else’s power.

You don’t think it’s too bad at first. Only your friends’ heavy thoughts made their way into your head. Unfortunately, some of those thoughts you can never unhear again.

The problem comes when you go to the library for the first time with this new power. The library is hell. It’s full of people who are just thinking loudly. See in public, there are people who are thinking loudly of course, but there are more people distracted and speaking without thinking, which you never thought you would be so grateful for.

You don’t last in the library for very long. So libraries are on your list of places to avoid. Soon, movie theaters are also on that list and then so are museums. Any place where people are meant to be quiet is where it’s loudest in your head.

You wish you knew who you touched to get these powers. You begin to think back at everyone the past few weeks that you might have had direct contact with. A hand you shook or an arm you bumped into. You’ve always been cautious about your surroundings so these things wouldn’t happen.

Everyone you greeted at your Sokovian friend’s party you’ve greeted before. No one was new there. The Sokovian at the store!

Damn it. You never got her name or anything. Maybe you’ll encounter her at the store again. The next few days, you spend hours at the same store. People begin to think you’re an employee and you almost feel like one, knowing exactly where everything is from spending so much time there.

You’ve even made plans with one employee to go hangout. But no green eyed Sokovian makes an appearance.

Three weeks you have this power when you find that not only can you read people’s thoughts, but you hold things without actually touching them. It happens when you drop something in the kitchen. You reach for it to catch it before it hits the floor but it’s nowhere near your grasp. However, it never hits the floor.

You then notice a red mist-like substance coming from your hands floating in the direction of the object. You see that it’s holding it up. After that, you start practicing with random things around your apartment. You begin with lighter things, thinking you would only be able to hold weight that you could in your actual arms, but it is not so.

You work your way up to lifting your car in the air and in that same moment you learn you could do multiple things like lifting your car and replacing the flat tire.

Two months with these abilities and you feel you start getting the hang of it. You still can’t go to the library. You’ve tried again but the voices are too loud. You still go to the store where you met the woman that unintentionally gifted you these powers to try and return them. She seemed like a decent person and you don’t know what she used these powers for. Maybe she needs them.

You still have yet to find her.

Wanda hasn’t been on a mission in three months. Instead, Bruce has been poking and prodding her with needles and running countless tests trying to figure out what happened with her powers. Three weeks ago she began to go to a therapist because Steve thought it might be a mental block of some sort that she had to work through.

Though therapy was doing wonders for her, they weren’t getting her anywhere near having her powers back. Bruce’s tests weren’t helpful either. She’s been stuck in the tower for three months and her days have never felt so repetitive until now- train, go to therapy, undergo tests. Rinse and repeat.

The media had begun to notice as well. She turns to another TV channel where the news anchor asks “Where is Wanda Maximoff?” as if she’s disappeared from the face of the earth. In a way she has.

Fortunately for her, you are watching that same channel. You are cooking dinner and have the television channel on for background noise. You hear them talking about the Avengers. They’ve never been of much interest to you, although they should be seeing as though you live in the same city and something is always going down here because of that reason.

“For those who have been living under a rock,” the new anchor starts, “Wanda Maximoff is one of the newer additions to the Avengers.”

“She’s the one with the red magic, isn’t she?” the co-anchor asks. That grabs your attention. You turn to look at the screen. “That’s right. She joined about a year ago after the fall of Sokovia.”

That had to be a coincidence, right?

“She hasn’t been reported to be on any missions the last three months,” the reporter continues. That definitely couldn’t be a coincidence, you think, counting back the time you’ve attained these powers.

“Here is a clip of Maximoff using her magic to save diplomats at the embassy five months ago when…” You don’t hear the rest as you watch the clip play.

It’s the green eyed Sokovian who helped you out at the market. Your suspicions about it being her who had these powers were correct. You just didn’t think you took powers from an Avenger. Someone who definitely needs these powers to do her job and save people like the clip shows. Shit.

You smell the food you’re cooking burning.

“Shit!”

Wanda pounds her hand on the mat. Sweat clings onto her shirt. She’s tired and out of breath.

“Again,” Nat commands. Wanda huffs and stands up, getting back into her fighting pose. She takes a swing that the Black Widow easily dodges. Not two moves later, she hits the mat again.

“Again,” Nat repeats.

“Natasha, give the kid a break,” Steve says, watching from the side.

“It’s okay,” Wanda assures him.

Natasha explains, “If therapy and tests aren’t working, maybe self defense will.”

Steve seems doubtful but allows it. They really need Wanda to work through whatever is blocking her from using her powers. He winces seeing Wanda hit the mat.

“Again.”

“I’ve told you for the millionth time. My name is Y/N L/N and I need to speak to Wanda Maximoff. Or any of the Avengers, really. Or even one of their assistants or something. It’s vital,” you try helplessly.

“Unless you have clearance, I can’t let you up,” the guy at the desk says to you for what feels like the hundredth time. You’ve been coming in the past few days trying to get someone to let you see Wanda.

“Look, it’s really important. Can’t you, like, give her a message or something?” You’re desperate at this point. He laughs.

“Ah, yes, let me just text her real quick. ‘hey Wanda. It’s that one guy you said hello to once downstairs. There’s some girl here that needs to talk to you’,” he acts out sarcastically, which you do not find amusing.

“Listen, buddy. If you do me this favor and get your boss or whoever can give me clearance to see her, I promise she’ll be so grateful for you helping me get to her that she’ll come and thank you herself,” you vow.

“I can’t help you, Miss. Now please go or I’ll have to call security,” he warns.

You rub your temple in frustration. “Fine. There’s no need for that...Michael,” you read his name. “I’m going.”

You turn around as if to head for the door but then do a 180 and sprint past a security guard who shouts at you to stop. You make your way for the elevators as the security guard runs after you. You press the button for the elevators but you notice they’re nowhere near the ground floor.

The security catches up to you and in panic, you push him away with Wanda’s powers. He goes sliding across the floor and you bolt for the stairs.

You don’t even know which floor you would find Wanda in but you assume it would be somewhere up top. You begin your ascend. You reach the fourth floor and realize you should start using the StairMaster at the gym. You hear multiple security guards quickly making their way to you. You panic and walk through the wall, not knowing what was on the other side.

You’re in some kind of engineering lab. You don’t think anyone saw you walk through the wall, so you try to act casual and stroll through the lab trying to find an exit. Then you hear someone call you. “Hey, you.”

You ignore them and act like you didn’t hear. They tell you to stop walking, loud enough that you can’t ignore it. You turn around to see a woman in a lab coat. She asks, “You’re not allowed on this floor. Who let you up here?”

“Oh, uh. Michael sent me,” you lie. “Sorry, I’m new. I must have gotten off on the wrong floor. Maybe you could help me find my way?”

“Where are you meant to be working?” she inquires and you’re stuck not knowing anything about the Stark Tower or Avengers Tower, whatever it’s called.

“The lab,” you say. Your vague answer obviously creates another question. “What lab?”

“They haven’t told me yet? I’m not actually working in the labs. I’m doing more secretarial duties, taking notes and scheduling stuff.”

“For whom?” she asks, narrowing her eyes at you. You can feel her catching onto you and it’s the only reason why you try this.

“For the big guy, obviously,” you say and then focus really hard trying to read her mind, hoping that a name will pop up in her head. Did Bruce get an assistant? You smile. “Bruce.”

“Well then you are way off. He’s usually working on the 87th floor,” she tells you.

“Well, thank god there’s an elevator,” you chuckle nervously, pointing behind you. “Well, I should get going before I’m any later. You turn around confidently but as you walk away she stops you once more. You think you got caught but she says, “Elevators are that way.”

She points to the opposite way you came from. You laugh to play off your mistake, “Duh. Sorry, the lab is so big. Thanks.”

You head the right way. You speed walk to the elevators and then jog when you hear a rougher voice telling you to stop. “She’s on the fourth floor.”

You assume they spoke into their walkie, and you know you don't have much time before they catch you. You think quickly. You can’t make your way to the elevator because then obviously they’ll just stop the elevators. You don’t want to walk through a wall; the dangers of that are extreme given this is Stark Tower. You could accidentally walk into an ongoing experiment.

You had to hide. And suddenly, you had the perfect plan.

The security guard runs to you. He thinks you’re running for the elevator but then you turn before you get there. He sees you dive behind some clunky machine, presumably to hide behind. You clearly never have won a game of hide and seek in your life, he thinks as he goes around the machine to catch you.

He’s left utterly confused when you aren’t there. The only trace of you are your clothes down to underwear on the floor. Four other guards make it to the floor. One asks him, “Where is she?”

He doesn’t know how to answer. “She was right here. Search the floor. She’s hiding and I think she’s naked.”

They disperse taking your clothes with them. You let out a breath of relief at not getting caught but then mentally curse that they took your clothes. You still haven’t learned how to make other things invisible yet. You never really used this power. Maybe you should start practicing.

You hustle your naked ass to the elevators, feeling incredibly exposed even though you know no one can actually see you. You press the elevator button and wait impatiently. It dings and opens.

“The elevators!” You hear one of the guards yell. Two run your way as you step into the car. You put all your energy into staying invisible. It would be really awkward if you were suddenly exposed. You hold your breath when one of them looks in the elevator. You keep yourself in the corner furthest away from them. In their eyes, there is no one in the elevator.

“She’s not here.” They leave and the doors close. You click the button for the 87th floor.

____________________________________________________

This will probably have 3 parts.

#wanda maximoff imagine #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff x you

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getosscorpio · 2 years ago

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Forever Mine

Part 2: The big surprise

CW: gentleman Nanami, fluff Nanami

Wc: 1,4k

I still wasn’t sure if I was going to wear that black dress for the party. Shoko said that it was supposed to be a normal gathering of both Jujutsu Highs of Tokyo and Kyoto, but Gojo was talking about a surprise. There was supposed to be a big surprise for everyone, something we could’ve never thought of. Ridiculously I was hoping to see Geto again... But it was impossible that Gojo would hide him and bring him to such a formal occasion.

I did my makeup, tied my hair in a ponytail and wore my black long silk dress. It was an expensive one from one of my favorite boutiques in New York. It was backless and it revealed a huge part of my body. But I was sure that I wouldn't be the only one wearing something like that.

The party was arranged in the main hall of the tech which was decorated with elegant lights and flowers. I somehow felt adored to be welcomed back like this. Or it was maybe arranged to announce Gojo’s surprise after all.

I chose one of the tables in the corner and took a seat next to Shoko. She was poking on her cigarette and talking to Mei about some upcoming missions they were supposed to handle together. I was getting bored, and everyone was busy talking to each other.

“You wanna grab something to drink?” Gojo whispered to my ear from behind.

“Oh you scared me! Yeah, sure.” I stood up and he took my hand to walk me to the large table where all of the drinks and food were set.

“Is everything alright Y/N? You seem to be sad.” he looked at me with a worried gaze.

“I’m fine Satoru. I just wanna see your surprise and then go to bed ‘cause I'm so fucking tired.”

“Tired? Tired of what? The party hasn’t begun yet!” he chuckled as he pass me a glass of wine. “So, you’re excited for the surprise... I see! It may not be what you wish for, but it’s still a good one.” he said with a naughty smile on his face.

“Well, I don’t wish for anything. That’s not something to wish for anymore...”

“Listen Y/N” he stepped near me and whispered to my ear. “I gotta talk to you after this. There are things you have to know by now. And even my surprise is connected to all these things.”

I was completely confused by that time. What was he even talking about? Didn’t I already know about Geto’s plan?

I was just about to ask him as one of the drivers came and told Gojo to follow him. He pardoned me and walked quickly away with him. I took another sip of my vine and as I turned around to head back to our table, I heard Gojo saying “Ladies and Gentlemen, here we go with our big surprise of the night, my dear Nanami Kento!” I turned around to see what I was hearing. They were both standing just a few steps away from me. Was that the same Nanami? Or was I dreaming? He wore a black suit with a matching tie and a white shirt underneath. He was just a few centimeters shorter than Gojo. But what catched my eye was his broud figure. He had an amazingly built body. I was imagining his naked body as he started talking.

“Thank you so much Gojo! Good evening, everyone. It’s my pleasure to meet you all again. I’m honored to come back here and work with eveyone of you.” he said as he was smiling at everyone. I was wondering if he had seen me yet, but I decided to head back to Shoko and Mei before everyone was going to run to Nanami. How has he got so gorgeous? Even his voice had changed since the last time I had seen him. What the fuck was wrong with me? Come on Y/N, he’s just an old classmate and a coworker now.

I sat down on my chair and started fixing my hair.

“Where were you little princess?” Shoko said with a soft smile on her tired face.

“Nowhere. I went to grab some vine with Gojo before this sexy guy got here.”

“So, you noticed as well, huh?” she chuckled and took out her phone to dial some numbers. “I guess I'm leaving soon. I’ve got so much work to do for tomorrow. You’re gonna stay longer?”

“Umm... yeah, I guess.” I said as I was looking for Gojo and Nanami.

“Alright, see you tomorrow.” Shoko took her stuff and walked towards Nanami to welcome him back. I looked around and relised that Mei had left too so I was the only one sitting at the table. I noticed Gojo and Nanami walking towards me, so I pretended to be busy looking for something in my mini bag.

“Annnd here is the other newcomer.” Gojo laughed and placed his hand on my shoulder.

“Oh, hi! Welcome back Nanami!” I tried to stay as calm as possible. I stood up to shake his hand. He took my hand and placed a gentle kiss on the back of my hand.

“Y/N! It’s good to see you again. I heard you got back just a few weeks ago, right?” He was staring into my eyes and only if he knew how much he was!

“Yes, it’s been 3 weeks since then.” and finally he let go of my hand and put his hand in his pocket. I offered him one of the seats and Gojo went to talk with the others.

“So, you’re planning to stay?” I asked him quietly.

“Yeah, I wasn’t supposed to come back. But I think it’s the right time to be here. I don’t think that my business would get ruined if I would help the others.”

“Your business? So, you’re owning some I guess, right?” my voice sounded a little bit too excited but, at that moment, I just wanted to know more about him. It was obvious that Nanami wasn’t the same boring and nerdy student I used to know.

“Yeah, I'm running a logistics company. But I've got enough people to manage it for me. My only worry right now is the current problem here.”

So, there was obviously something serious going on. But why didn’t they tell me? Even Nanami knew about it. It sounded like they had asked him to come back and to help them solve the problem.

I didn’t really relize how the party ended. The guests from Kyoto were supposed to stay the night at the tech so they went staright to their rooms. I picked up my bag and was walking out of the door as I heard someone calling my name.

“Y/N!” I turned around and faced Nanami standing behind me. “Can I walk you to your room? It’s dark outside you shouldn’t be alone.”

“Sure! Although it’s pretty safe around here.” I smiled to reassure him despite all that.

We walked through the long roadway that led to the building where my room was located. The first few moments passed in silence. We were already getting away from the main hall and all we could hear was the sound of the cars on the highway.

“You looked amazing tonight!” he finally broke the silence and crooked his head to look at me. I smiled but I was sure he didn’t see my face in the dark. I bent my head slightly to see him. He had both his hands in his pockets and was looking at the ground.

“Thank you! You looked very good too!” I tried to say it as loud as possible but due to my nervousness my voice was getting low.

“You know, when you left to study abroad, I thought you’d never come back. Especially after what happened between you and Geto. I'm happy that you didn’t do so.”

“Sometimes things change faster than we may think. I couldn’t live without you guys anymore. After all I belong here!” we reached my front door, but I was hoping to continue the conversation with him.

“Is it already here?” he asked me when he saw me standing by the stairs.

“Yeah, thank you so much Nanami. I wish I could ask you to come in but I'm sure you’re tired.” I was playing with my bag and was trying my best to hold eye contact with him. But his eyes, even in the low light of the moon, were too firm and intimidating to me.

“No problem. I’m gonna come here tomorrow. Gojo wants to talk about some major things with us, so I guess we’ll meet again.” he said as he took out one of his hands from his pocket. I shook his hand and I immediately felt how warm his hand was. God, I needed to stop myself before things would get too obvious.

“Then, have a good night and see you tomorrow Y/N!” he gave me a soft smile and waited for me to enter the building.

“Good night Nanami!” I walked in and headed straight to my room.

After getting dressed in my comfi clothes and getting rid of my makeup, I went into my bed and the first thing that crossed my mind was Nanami. He really was the big surprise after all. I knew he was busy with his own job, but I'd never thought that he would get back to Jujustu High. But why couldn’t I get him out of my mind? I wasn’t supposed to have any feelings for him. Not after seeing him after 8 years...

rbs are appreciated <3

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caitimetravels · 3 years ago

Text

she's insignificant

chapter 4: run girl run

the umbrella academy x reader

disclaimer: i do not own the plot/storyline of the netflix tv series and i do not own the umbrella academy characters.

warnings: mentions of blood

masterlist

"you will be working on locating number five instead" reginald instructed the young girl. she raised her head in shock.

"what?"

"come, we must work in solitude" he ignored her confusion, uncaring for her feelings as usual. he lead her down the stairs. she only remembered coming down here once as a child, it was when vanya was sick. reginald showed her to a vault like room. she stared at it, unsure.

"you will be training down here from now on, your siblings will not disrupt you down here"

the h/c haired girl stared at the room with wide eyes. her siblings wouldn't disrupt her or she wouldn't disrupt them..?

————————————————–

"like i said to your son earlier, any information about the prosthetics we build is strictly confidential. without the client's consent i simply can't help" lance biggs sat in his office chair, staring at klaus as he talked. five stood beside the chair y/n sat in, hands in pockets and annoyed.

"well, we can't get consent if you don't give us a name" five leaned in, gritting his teeth.

"well, that's not my problem" lance shrugged, "sorry, now there's really nothing i can do so.."

"oh, what about my consent?" klaus looked up now, gaining five and y/n's attention. what was he doing? "who gave you permission to lay your hands on my son?"

"what?" the other three people in the room all spoke in unison.

"you heard me"

"i didn't touch your son" lance argued, glancing at five.

"oh, really?" klaus begun to lean forwards, moving to stand up. "well then how did he that swollen lip then?"

"he doesn't have a swollen lip-" lance was cut off as klaus struck five across the face. five touched a hand to his now bleeding lip, glaring at klaus in confusion.

"and, what about my daughter? how dare you lay a hand on her. she's so sweet and innocent" klaus turned to y/n now, gesturing to her. she awaited a hit now, sure he was going to punch her. "how could you assault her like that?" and just as she thought he slapped a hand across her face, leaving a bright red hand print.

"i want it. name please, now" klaus turned back to lance, leaning on his desk. the doctor raised a shaky finger at him.

"you're crazy"

"you got no idea" klaus laughed breathlessly before taking notice of the snow globe resting on the desk. he picked it up smiling as he read it. "'peace on earth' that's so sweet" y/n jumped in surprise as he smashed it over his head, groaning in pain. he held his hands to his face for a moment before looking back up, hair dripping with water and glitter. blood dripped down the side of his head.

lance quickly dialled a number into the phone, lifting it to his ear. he was still in shock, "i'm calling security- what are you doing?!"

y/n stood and gently gripped five's blazer sleeve, pulling him back as klaus ripped the phone from lance's grip. five glanced at her in confusion but then realised what was happening as he barely missed an elbow to the face as klaus dramatically cried into the phone.

"there's been an assault in mr biggs office and we need security now, schnow!" klaus slammed the phone back onto the table before leaning close to lance. "here's what's gonna happen grant"

"it's lance-"

"in about 60 seconds, two security guards are gonna burst through that door and they're gonna see a whole lot of blood and they're gonna wonder what the hell happened and we're gonna tell them that you, beat the shit out of us" klaus breathed for a moment standing up straight now, staring the doctor down. "you're gonna do great in prison grant, trust me, i've been there. little piece of chicken like you, oh my god you're gonna get passed around like a.. you're gonna do great, that's all i'm saying" klaus waved his hand, smiling.

five smirked now, proudly standing beside klaus. y/n nervously stood behind five, watching over his shoulder.

"jesus, you're a real sick bastard" lance stared up at him, stunned.

"thank you" klaus spat out a piece of glass.

————————————————–

"focus, number eight!" reginald shouted once again, frustrated as she failed once again to find her missing brother. she squeezed her eyes closed tighter, trying to ignore his insults.

it had been almost 6 years since five had disappeared and around 1 since ben died. she had spent that year working on finding her brother only to be unsuccessful. it was like he had dropped off the face of the earth, she didn't know how her father expected her to find him.

she needed to focus. her eyes glazed over again as she opened them, turning black for the sixth time that hour. her hands glowed a soft white colour in her lap as her powers worked. she couldn't hear her father anymore.

she opened her eyes slowly to see destruction. where was she? she notices a store behind her, flames still burning endlessly upon rubble. carefully she walked into what was left of the department store. there sat a mannequin in a white top with black dots, only the top half of the mannequin was still undamaged, she had a single arm and no hair but what was left of her body was fine. suddenly someone walked through y/n. she stared at the boy for a moment, recognising him as her missing brother.

"five..?"

————————————————–

klaus sat atop the bench while five sat across from lance who searched through the files. y/n stood in between the two, arms crossed and guarded as she watched everything over klaus' shoulder. her face still slightly hurt, hand print clearly visible.

lance nervously flicked through the file five was looking for before pausing as he read it.

"huh.. that's strange"

"what?" five snapped impatiently,

"uh the eye, it hasn't been purchased by a client yet" lance looked up at him now,

klaus jumped off the bench, stepping behind lance. "what? what do you mean?"

"well, our logs say that the eye with that serial number.." klaus stepped over to his other side and leaned over his left shoulder. "this can't be right, it hasn't even been manufactured yet. where did you get that eye?"

lance, klaus and y/n all looked to five. where did he get that eye?

————————————————–

he was a little older than she remembered but he was definitely the same boy that ran away all those years ago. he didn't answer her voice, not hearing her at all. she frowned, watching as he dug through what was left of the store. he was searching for something useful.

while he dug through scraps she went back to the beautiful mannequin. she was surprised at how it had managed to stay okay through all of this destruction around them. she reached a hand out to touch her before she heard five's voice. had he seen her?

"five" she smiled, turning to him only for him to walk right through her again. she frowned, why couldn't he see her? she tried to grab his arm but her hand only phased through. she was like a ghost.. where was she? where was five? "five, can you hear me?" she stood in front of him, trying everything to get his attention.

"five? five!" why couldn't she help him? she just wanted to help. she felt so useless, watching him walk around and gather materials. she couldn't speak to him, he couldn't hear her..

————————————————–

"well, this is not good" five breathed out in annoyance as they exited the building.

"i was pretty good though right? 'yeah, what about my consent, bitch?'" klaus grinned, giddy as they stepped out. y/n sighed at her brother, trailing behind.

"klaus, it doesn't matter" five snapped, stopping on the last step to glare at him. klaus stopped just after, turning to face him.

"what? what? what? what's the big deal with this eye anyway?" klaus carelessly threw his hand in the air, not at all bothered.

"there's someone out there who's going to lose an eye in the next seven days. they're going to bring about the end of life on this earth as we know it" five spoke seriously, stressed.

y/n's eyes narrowed. that's where he had been..

————————————————–

she felt herself being pulled away, like someone was tugging her. she fought, wanting to stay, she needed to help him. she needed to tell five he could get back, she could help him, she would.

she continued to call for him even though she knew it was useless. she wasn't able to help him no matter how hard she tried. she was like a ghost. five finally stopped rummaging, now noticing the mannequin behind her.

"how did you.." he spoke softly, he even sounded the same. god, she missed him. she almost broke down again as he walked through her, picking up the mannequin softly. just as y/n faded she reached her hand out, trying to touch him. her hand instead gripped the mannequin. she shouted in pain as she felt like she was being torn apart. she squeezed her eyes shut hoping the pain would stop.

when her eyes opened again she found herself in that same room with her father scowling down at her. he watched her for a moment, for once allowing her to calm down. she slowed her breathing, wiping away the tears on her cheeks, bitterly.

"report, number eight?" reginald asked, impatiently glaring.

"i.." she paused, she couldn't tell him. she would find five on her own if she had to but she couldn't tell him, she wouldn't. she was a failure. she couldn't tell him she couldn't do it, the punishment would be too great. "i didn't find him.."

reginald clicked his tongue in disappointment. "you are dismissed until further notice. training will not resume"

"what? but what about five-"

"number five is gone and you can do nothing to help him if you keep failing, number eight. you are too weak. you are dismissed" he snapped, narrowing his eyes, daring her to talk back again.

she stayed silent.

————————————————–

klaus paused before ignoring five's ominous tone, "yeah, can i get that twenty bucks like now or what?"

"your twenty bucks?" five stared at him in disbelief.

"yeah, my twenty bucks"

"the apocalypse is coming and all you can think about it getting high?" five got up in klaus' face, annoyed. how could he not care that the world was ending?

"hey, um.. five?" y/n tried to diffuse the situation before anything could happen. she didn't need another family fight.

"well, i'm also quite hungry" "tummys-a-rumbling, grr" klaus grinned, patting his stomach and imitating gurgling sounds.

"you're useless.." the boy clad in uniform mumbled, incredulous. "you're all useless!" he begun to walk away to the stairs of the building.

"five? hey, come on. i'm sure we can do something else to stop the-" y/n smiled softly, walking behind him, holding his blazer sleeve. klaus interrupted her.

"oh, come on, you need to lighten up, old man" he stayed where he was, exasperated. "klaus!" y/n scolded, sitting beside five only to be ignored. "hey, you know i've just now realised why you're so uptight! you must be horny as hell. all those years by yourself, that's gotta screw with your head, being alone" he acted sympathetic as he sat on five's other side. y/n rolled her eyes, he was definitely just doing this for his money.

"well, i wasn't alone" five stared off while he fiddled with his fingers.

"oh? pray tell" klaus turned, interested.

five looked up now, reminiscent. "her name was dolores, we together for over 30 years"

"30 years? oh wow, god, the longest i've been with someone was.. i don't know.. three weeks?" five's eyebrows furrowed, bored. he looked around for an escape. "and that's only because i was so tired of looking for a place to sleep-" he noticed a cab driving by and took y/n's hand before blinking into the cab. "he did make the most fantastic ossobuco though, it was.. five? y/n?"

the pair appeared the back of the cab, scaring the driver. "don't stop. just keep going" five instructed before leaning out the window and saluting condescendingly at klaus.

"hey, hey, hey, hey! what about my money?!" he shook his hand, angrily yelling at them.

————————————————–

"y/n, dear" grace smiled at her, standing in the doorway to the library. her siblings stood around their mother, all ready for bed. she was going to tuck them in. "it's bed time, come now, let's get you ready"

y/n stared at her books for a moment before ultimately sighing and following along. she brought two with her though. diego walked beside her, as grumpy as usual and only there because he was a mommy's boy. his eyebrows furrowed in confusion however at the books in her hands.

"why do you need books on physics and probability?" y/n looked up at him, surprised he was talking to her. usually her siblings ignored her now that she wasn't part of their missions. she stared at him for a moment, deciding whether to tell him or not. with a glance at the cameras in the room she decided against it.

"none of your business" she muttered quietly, curling her arms around the books, holding them to her chest. it gave diego a look at the equations written on her arm though. what was she up to?

he dropped it nonetheless. he didn't care too much if he was being honest, what she did was her business.. for now.

she was going to find him. she had to. with her books splayed out around her she made sure to stay to the quiet corner of the library, the one no camera in this house reached. loose sheets and notebooks filled with equations sat messily in front of her, decorating her wide array of books. if she could only tell five she could help him. he was surely smart enough to figure this out on his own but how long would it take him? she wanted him to come back sooner not later.

"come on, you can do this" she clenched her hands into fists, glowing white as she focused. her eyes turned black and she looked around. she couldn't move, she was stuck. she noticed five walking around but her body wouldn't do what she wanted it to. he walked over now however, did he finally see her? he smiled, taking a seat beside her. she noticed a book in his hand but she couldn't read what it was. he scribbled in it, focused. the only she noticed was that she was sat in red wagon, unmoving and unblinking. what was wrong with her?

five wrote down a few more numbers, showing her what he had written so far. it was similar to what sat beside her earlier. "i've almost got the equations dolores"

what..? her name wasn't dolores?

she gasped as she was shaken back to reality. looking up she found a concerned looking klaus with diego a few feet behind him.

"oh god" klaus sighed in relief as her eyes turned back to normal. "i thought you died or something"

"idiot, if she was dead her powers wouldn't have been working" diego scoffed although he too looked quite relieved she was okay.

"what were you doing?" klaus sat beside her now, staring at the numerous equations in front of him.

"what are you doing? shouldn't you be training or something?" she frowned, annoyed at having been caught and interrupted.

"we asked you first" diego countered, crossing his arms.

"i was practicing, nothing you should be concerned about" she waved it off, packing up her books and notes.

"it looks like a lot more than practicing, eight" he moved closer, stepping on the sheet she was about to pick up. he leaned over her, watching her carefully. she eyed him back, just as daring.

"you don't know what it looks like, two" she stated calmly, still holding the sheet.

"c'mon, y/n, just tell us what you're doing" klaus whined, "what are we gonna do? tell dad? we're not luther"

y/n snorted, remembering the jokes they used to make about luther sniffing dad's underwear. "fine, i was looking for five, dad stopped my training" diego stepped back now, confused.

"why would he stop your training?"

y/n paused, looking guilty. she glanced nervously between the two of them before waving them down towards her, whispering. "you can't tell anyone.. i lied to dad, i did find five"

"you're kidding" both boys stared at her in disbelief.

"why would you l-lie? w-w-w-what are you going to do if h-h-he finds o-out?!" diego freaked out now, his stutter coming out in his nervousness.

"he's not going to find out. he doesn't care about me now, i'm practically useless to him now" she shrugged, continuing to stack her papers again. "besides i can't move or talk to five whenever i find him, i just.. exist. i'm like a ghost or something. i still need to figure out how to communicate with him" she sighed heavily. first, she wanted to figure out what book he was reading. she had never seen it before.

————————————————–

"what are we doing?" y/n and five stood outside the department store.

"i thought i said no questions until later" he raised an eyebrow at her. "we're just here to get something" she shrugged and he held her arm before blinking them inside. they walked around for a moment, using five's flashlight.

"oh my god! five look!" y/n gushed, noticing postcards on a stand. "they have so many cities!" he stared at her for a second, confused by her fascination before remembering she had never really left the house. she gasped suddenly, turning around and holding up a fluffy bunny keychain. "it's so cute!"

a small fond smile grew on five's face as she took interest in the small, almost useless items that the store had to offer. with a sad look she turned to him, still holding the white bunny keychain. "five.. can i keep it?"

he paused, he was about to take dolores so he didn't see why not. if he said no he would be hypocritical.

"fine. but don't touch anything else, okay? we can't risk getting caught" he nodded before walking away. y/n grinned, hooking the keychain into her belt loop before looking around.

five finally found dolores, looking up at her. "dolores.. it's good to see you"

"i've missed you, obviously.. well, it's been a rough couple of days" y/n couldn't see who he was talking to but heard his voice. she frowned, he had gone through a lot.

suddenly five yelled, "no!" and then there were gunshots. y/n dropped to the floor, praying five was alright. she ducked behind a gardening stand. five appeared beside her and she almost screamed. he held a finger to his lips, shushing her. she nodded, watching as he grabbed a spade, testing it's swing before disappearing again.

she watched as he fought one of the two shooters, slicing their arm before running again. she couldn't see him after that, not until he came back over with a bag, pulling her with him. they ducked down one of the aisles and he tried to spatial jump but it didn't work. he was too tired.

"shit.. come on!" he tried again. in a last effort they ran and jumped over a stall, caught as the lights from the guns shone on them like headlights. both five and y/n froze.

"got him" the one with the pink mask spoke before they were distracted by sirens. five used this to their advantage, pulling y/n out and away from the line of fire. they stayed behind a stand, waiting for the masked shooters to leave before they did themselves.

as they sat y/n finally got a good look at dolores, freezing when she realised she knew the mannequin.

"oh my god.."

"what?" five furrowed his eyebrows at her.

"you were in a relationship with.. a mannequin?" she looked up at him in disbelief. the mannequin was not her issue though.

"look, if you have a problem-" he glared, ready to defend himself but she shook her head.

"no, no. i get it.. it's just.. " she trailed off awkwardly.

"what?" he snapped, getting impatient.

"five.. my soul was in that mannequin"

tags: @rxses-and-reverie @lostgreekgod @on-yourmark-99 @bicyhot1

#tua #the umbrella academy x reader #tua x sibling reader #the umbrella academy x sibling reader #five hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #diego hargreeves #allison hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #luther hargreeves #five hargreeves x reader #klaus hargreeves x reader #diego hargreeves x reader #allison hargreeves x reader #vanya hargreeves x reader #luther hargreeves x reader #ben hargreeves x reader #ben hargreeves

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